Richy,
Go for carbon poles, That was the advice given to me. Go carbon from the start.
Haven't used my kit yet, but even if you need it asap, i ordered my vac from Kev on Monday, got it delivered Tuesday.
Ordered the poles Monday, Delivered Wednesday.
Ordered some 51mm hose and cuffs from Polarbrite Monday, Delivered Tuesday.
The stuff that's taking longer for delivery is the eBay stuff, Otherwise id be out testing the setup tomorrow on the
in-laws place.
Although i know what your saying about a complete setup, i looked at quite a few different companies, but i got piece of mind about the vac from kev, and had a chat with the guy i got the tubes off, and i couldnt find out much info about all the different vacs being offered with the packages.
Omnipole is quite a decent company i believe, not sure about all the others though.