Since there are so many fake ghd's out there, it could be difficult to know where to get 'the real deal', so to speak. And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want a fake one... I've just found a website checker that tells you if the site sells genuine ghd's or not. Check it out here: ghd straighteners
i'm pretty sure as long as you buy it from an authorised reseller (ie- decent hairdressers), you should be fine. Just stay away from ebay, and realise, they are $300, so if you're paying $100, chances are you're not getting the real thing.
I loooove my GHD I wish I bought one years ago! I've only had mine for just over a year and it's my best friend. In America I used my sister's wet to dry Chi straightener and that was pretty good as well. Before my ghd I had a Mark Hill/someone who's name isn't coming to mind at the moment and it was also really really good. The only thing is that it broke down and whenever it was plugged in it was on (the switch just stopped completely) Also, when I used it with products in my hair (even left over) it stripped away the ceramic like crazy. GHD all the way.
Wow, my hair before I discovered hair straightners...mmm
I praise the genious who invented these! Everyone says the GHD is the number one, but I was at the hairdressers and they used this Pearl one...really good!!