Hi Everybody,
I'm actually buying this for my husband, his b-day is coming up. I don't really know anything about the equipment -I just take whatever the rental place is giving me, but he is getting serious and good enough for his own stuff I think.
If this is not the right place for this post, I apologize - please let me know if there's some special newbie discussion board.
He's been trying some freestyling so the board should not be too stiff (I think, from reading up on the subject ). Here's what I could find so far:
boards (should be 152-155cm):

Ride control - http://store.summitonline.com/53339.html
Ride cue - http://store.summitonline.com/45691.html
GNU CHB - http://store.summitonline.com/70099.html
K2 fuse - http://store.summitonline.com/53440.html

boots (9-9.5):

Lamar alias - http://www.the-house.com/la2al07zzlamar.html
Airwalk vulcan - http://www.the-house.com/aw2vu06bzzairwalk.html
Avalanche Variant - http://store.summitonline.com/70802.html
Fusion LT1 - http://www.the-house.com/fu2fb09zzfusionboots.html

bindings:

Ride LX - http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/browse.cfm/4,687.htm
Sims Icon - http://www.the-house.com/fu2fb09zzfusionboots.html
Morrow dimension - http://www.the-house.com/mo1di04bzzmorrowdimension.html

Does anyone have a recommendation as to which ones are the best? My husband is pretty athletic, can go downhill no problem and maneuver. He can do some basic freestyling tricks and is learning. Are any of the boards better or worse for this skillset? Also, can different bindings go on different boards, or do I have to get specific ones?
One last question - what is the best place to buy this? Online (cheaper) vs. Store (maybe quality).
Thanks a lot of any insight!