After comparing a few brands and talking to my friends who have them. I decied
to go with Daikin at the end. It is a little bit more expensive than
mitsubishi or fujitsu, but its indoor unit is a lot quieter than the rest.
its reliability is also top notch.
Most American HVAC contractor deal with split units as well. It is getting
more popular in America. Aside from the obvious benfit of efficency over
central air, I also like the fact that split unit is much less dependent on
the skill of individual installers. There is not duct design and installation invloved. I
have heard many horror stories of people trying to install central air in
old houses and it failed to work dur to poor duct design. Often times, a few
rooms in the house would freezes to death while the other half of the house
doesn't get any cold air. Split unit requires much less skill of the
installer.