The best place to search for discounted skis online is a place like Kijii where people post their used skis. If a person was looking for new they could check sporting good stores and look for sales.
The Connelly and the Airhead skis are the most popular. They are brand name and extremely popular and well-known. They are good quality and will be a good buy.
Oh, that's a great question! First you have to tell me if you're asking about cross-country skis or downhill skis, but I'll just write short on both. Downhill: I recommend Atomic. There are very many different brands, but I'd recommend Atomic. Though, on amateur basis it doesn't matter so much. There aren't really so big differences, so nordica and fischer also work well. Cross-country: There are basically two great companies offering cross-country skis, Madshus and Fischer. Of course there are more than 2 companies, but these are the biggest and most famous ones. My personal opinion is that Fischer is better for skating skis, and Madshus is better for classic skis, but on an amateur basis that doesn't matter so much. Both of these work well, but you shouldn't pick any other than Madshus and Fischer. I hope this was helpful, and I really hope you didn't mean the models, cuse that would take ages to write :)
You want a skis that's fairly heavy, but also can be used reliable on landings. Try the dynastar contact cross, armada triumph, Fischer progresser series, or atomic nomad.
When you store downhill skis over a long period you should put a storage wax on. This is a special wax designed to keep the bases from drying out and cracking. A good place to store your skis would be a place that is cool and has a medium humidity. Too dry will dry out your skis. Dark is also good as bright sunlight can damage the graphics and will make the temperature rise and fall which will also damage your skis.
I go skiing on a pro level, so I have the newest and most expensive equipment, and I paid $800 for my last skis. But of course, you don't need so expensive skis if you're just a regular sunday-skier.
You can purchase cheap skis at sites like The-House. They are currently offering 70% off on their products. Another cheap place to buy skis would be Amazon or eBay.
You can buy used, and new jet skis at PWC-Trader (http://www.pwctrader.com/). It allows you to browse for a jet ski by various forms, including by city, in order to make finding the best jet ski for you more convenient.
Burton for Snowboards. K2, atomic, salomon, rossignol, fischer, volkl, elan, nordica and dynistar are some popular ski brands. Some do snowboards as well.
Not unless you are a ski racer yourself, and were lucky enough to get top of the line equipment. World Cup skiers get the best race skis that their factory makes. They have many different pairs of the same type (downhill skis, for example) that they will test to see which are the fastest. Race skis are highly specialized and differ greatly from demo skis or skis that the public usually buys. You can see this reflected in the price. Race skis typically run $800-$1000 for the skis, not including bindings.
No need to wax...best thing to do is preserve with linseed oil.
Online would be your best option. A site called akers-ski.com is a great place to find many skiing equipment and you can find great sales and more when you purchase here. They also have brand names of their equipment for the picky people.