You state that you did not chose the Alpha autopilot because you did not want to have to ship it to the West coast for service. Shipping is only an issue if things need repair. That has not been the case for me with my Alpha or for two of my friends who also own one. I have over 12,000 miles on mine and it works flawlessly. One friend did a 9 year circumnavigation with his with no problems and another did 3 trans-atlantics plus 4 summers sailing in Europe without a hitch. Note, the Alpha does not interface with anything which for some of us is a desired attribute. Picking an autopilot based on where in the USA you need to ship it if or when it needs a repair is a somewhat unusual way of making a purchase decision, but it's your money. It is worth mentioning that you don't have to ship things to have them repaired if they don't break.