Price on the ballasts is not bad, but not great. The 400 is the same price as the MAP on the coralvue ballast, the 250 is only $5 less than MAP.. the 175 is about $20 less which is nice.
The bulbs I have heard of, but I can't remember much about them other than they are cheap. I think it might be the cheap MH bulbs thread on reefcentral.
I would guess the ballasts are fine, normal electronic MH ballasts, bulbs, hard to say, I know they will work, but don't know for how long or if they will shift color...
Kim