Actually, I was going to give the 997 a higher rating for being made in the USA.

As Koyaan has stated, more and more manufactures are moving offshore. A great short term business model, until no one in the US has a job. Then these companies will have no customers. It's not a competitive price, it's a low price while still maintaining a double digit profit margin. I know, I spent six months in China setting up a plant for a company I used to work for.

There isn't that much labor in these units, all of the boards are made on automated machines. Labor cost is the big cost saver which includes benefits and taxes. But when you figure in VAT tax and shipping costs it doesn't make sense unless you’re making a million widgets or the process is very labor intensive.

Sorry for the rant, but I've seen firsthand how this works. If companies would automate their factories here there wouldn't be a big need to build in China.