Quote from: Zara on July 22, 2012, 12:47:03 PM

In your opinion, is it too late to order a BFL Single--not an ASIC.

It depends on your belief.
Some people believe that ASIC won't be released in October and decide to wait / invest by buying bitcoin / FPGAs / GPU for now.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=92268.0

Some people believe that ASIC will be released in October and decide to pre-order it
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=89521.0

Do some research yourself, don't believe everything people said.
Pick one side, and invest your money or play the waiting game.

Quote

How long would it take to break even on the purchase if I bought one today? What if I could find one from a third party (not the manufacturer--I hear they are slow)?

BFL Single, according to the calculator you'll break even after 175.8 days so you have 5-6 months.

http://tpbitcalc.appspot.com/?difficulty=1866391.3050&hashrate=800&exchangerate=8.35&bitcoinsperblock=50.00&rigcost=599&powerconsumption=80&powercost=0.10&investmentperiod=355