The reason I went with a pressure rated unit for my plumbing is because I was going to be using Loc-Line in my plumbing. This is relevent because Loc-Line only comes in 3/4 of inch as its largest diameter, and the Iwaki pumps that have a flow rate at 1000 gph inlet/outlets are 1 inch in diameter, so it would be constricted automatically. Non pressure pumps dont do well with restrictions, you lose ALOT of flow when you restrict them.
Basically, what you have to do is figure out your plumbing scheme...how you want it, what you want to do etc....and that will determine your pump requirements. Makes sense?
And as far as the Iwaki pumps go, the only issues I've ever heard about Iwaki pumps is from the American motors. And those are pretty rare too. The japanese motors are more expensive, but worth it IMO. As long as you do your part, (regular maintenance...just claening the impeller assembly once yearly and removing any calcium deposits etc that will cause the pump to work harder), the pump will do its part.
They dont come fully wired though. I was a little surprised, but they come with a short cord that is approximately 4 feet long, no plug. This allows you to wire an additional cord of what ever length you want to the pump which allows you all sorts of flexibility. I spent something like 10 dollars on a 10 foot cord with plug, 2 dollars on some wire butt splices (basically you stick one end of the wire into this little plastic collar, crimp it, do the same to the other side, do this a total of 3 times cause there are three individual wires, and wrap the whole thing with electrical tape and voila....you now have a 14 foot cord for your pump.), and another 2 dollars on electrical tape. Its really easy and I have NO experiance with electrical. I was honestly surprised with how ridiculously easy it was.
You might get some good ideas on plumbing and otehr things from these threads...
Project 58 (This is my thread...you can learn alot by what I did, and what I did wrong....its cheaper to learn from other peoples mistakes...
Nikkis 120 gallon saga
Some plumbing for Nikki
My new Cube
mkPaulson 210
DrB's 180 walk through
MojoReef's Building of the Beast
Some plumbing for Vickie
Lots of reading, but good info there.....
Nick