marimba options

Hi Folks--

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this site is that it seems to be free of the helpful-to-some, boring-to-most questions about gear that riddle the vibenet. Mostly we're really talking about music and how to make it on a vibraphone over here, and I think that's fantastic. That said, with the vibenet down for the count, here's an insufferable question about gear, complete with ebay links!

I've got a student whose parents are considering buying her a Musser rosewood xylophone, I think probably because it's the cheapest 'real' instrument they can find online. (For some crazy reason it's almost $1000 less than anywhere else at Sam Ash for $2700 if you're interested.) I'm trying to push them in the direction of a marimba, as I think it's generally a good instrument for someone who's playing in school band to practice on... more range than the vibes, and if you only practice on vibes, it's harder to move to a marimba than the other way around, methinks.

SO, I've been out there on the ebay, and I wondered if anyone had any experience with the following instruments... I'm interested for my probably-not-going-to-pursue-this-in-college student, but with an apartment as small as my marimba budget, I'm kind of interested for myself, as well.

#1) This one's built by one guy... I think it's non-graduated, but I'm interested nonetheless. Can't find any audio examples, but I've written him about it. Anyone ever seen or heard one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-5-OCTAVE-WOODEN-MARIMBA-XYLAPHONE-DIRECT-FROM-ART…

#2) This one's wild, 'cause they're actually advertising it as having 3.5 octaves, when it clearly has four. It's one of these 'resonator box' instruments, which I've never played, but which I can really dig the advantages of. Anyone have any experience with these? Can't find references to 'Dunbar' from google.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-37-BAR-ROSE-WOOD-CONCERT-MARIMBA-WITH-CASE_W0QQ…

#3) Ok, this one's mostly just 'cause I'm interested. No idea what these would sound like, but to have a nice marimba sound for even a few octaves for less than $500 and for it to be good-looking and compact to boot... it's a pretty attractive idea.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Guatemalan-2-5-Octaves-Marimba-100-handmade_W0QQite…

Hope nobody minds me gearing it up. In addition to wanting to help students out, I'm always on the lookout for a viable marimba doubling option-- I just can't see a point in the next 5 years when it would be reasonable to expect I could bring something the size of a Musser 4.3 octave on a gig (with or without a vibraphone as well) more than every 6 months or so. (Let alone house or pay for one!)