OK, I'll be the guinea pig, I just ordered one from Ecost. Should be here in 8-14 days. Since I'm in Canada the $50 rebate doesn't apply but the price is still pretty darned cheap for a recorder. Although the Yamakawa site was $20 cheaper I went with Ecost because they have the Borderfree affiliation with Canada Post and it tells you the TOTAL costs including duty, shipping, taxes etc.
I spoke to Yamakawa tech support about the recorder. He indicated that although its made in a different factory than the players, it in his opinion should have as good or better PQ. Also, out of 500 they've sold they've had 8 (2%) defective ones returned. So I bit the bullet.
Interesting name, Yamakawa. Perhaps its a combo of Yamaha and Kawasaki to sound more Japanese, although its made in China. Not knocking China though, tell me what isn't made there nowadays.