Thanks guys! All good stuff and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'm all for the education and learning experience of getting this taken care of the right way. (And patient enough to wait it out and deal with the potential mods and paperwork.)
In the back of my mind, I questioned the likelyhood of the seller having gotten a chinese laser varianced and would have liked to known more but, when time is ticking on the close of an auction, I figured I'd take a chance. The retail DID seem to be just under $7500 and I got it for $975. I can't imagine that an RGB in the 830mw range can be had for anything close to that new from a US company.
Still a bit new to this. What generally is it about foreign made projectors that seem to be the biggest issues with making them acceptable to FDA and CDRH? I understand that some you come across are just not well built, with cheap wiring, smelly glues, some poorly made or aligned components etc. That all seems quite obvious. But, I've seen some that are built in solid enclosures, with PCB's and wiring that look equal to any decent electronic device, have key locks with decent keys (not the cheap flimsy tin), safety interlocks, warning labels (that are grammatically correct!) etc, and by all accounts give the appearance of being solid, well made devices.
From a business standpoint, it would seem to me that these manufacturers would WANT to make a product that could legally be sold where a majority of people might be interested in buying them. Although I guess they have a big enough market in Europe.
Just musing...
Should be in transit from California as I type this and I'll keep the dialogue going as I get more information. (And perhaps throw it in the trunk before leaving for SELEM.)
Thanks!
~Brad