Originally posted by HYBRID
thanks shingo and fatbooty you guys were a great help. does anyone know what the cheapest price is on the comptech piece? comptech lists it as $399, is that the only possible price i can get it for? 
In very RARE cases some shops that are certified Comptech Dealers will retail them for under what it listed on Comptech's site (which is how I obtained my Comptech I/H/E along with some old fashioned bargaining in person). See if your local shops are authorized Comptech dealers and check the prices there. Most likely they're pretty close to what is listed on Comptech's site.
The other option is to search the classifieds for used parts.
Shingo