meierlde
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Indeed. If you can find a good independent small HVAC service company, they will offer the best service and price.
Hmmm. They developed largely as an answer to a European/Asian situation (a large stock of existing homes built with no forced air ducting and no good way to retrofit that ducting). Mini-spilts can be a good answer to some niche situations in the US, but it is generally impractical to use them to supply conditioned air to every habitable room in a home, as is commonly done with a ducted system. Having a home with 8-15 separate evap coils, control units, fans, drains, plus the outside condenser would be very expensive and a full employment program for HVAC service folks. The single outside condenser and singe inside air handler (maybe two in a 2 story home) of a typical ducted system is a good, serviceable, practical approach for the vast majority of present homes and new construction.
Mini splits make sense in homes that had hot water or steam heat, with there for no duct work and no chases to install it. For example the house I grew up with in MI had hot water heat, and to cool it its either mini splits or window units. (not that you need cooling that much of the time near Detroit).