CHI Flat Iron

I watched a video on YT yesterday about how to get sleek runway hair done by julieg713 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SgWPfANKCU
So, she totally sold me on the CHI flat iron... I've been reading reviews about it though and some people love it and some people hate it. I've heard it can be pretty harsh on the hair but what hair strightner isn't?? I've also heard they die pretty easy so that kinda sucks.
I found one on Amazon.com for $60 and if you open up an Amazon Visa card then you get $30 back from them...making my grand total $30... good deal... good deal.
My only fear is that it's not an authentic CHI because I'm not buying it directly from CHI. This is what lack of self control gets me... panic and fear. Ha ha

Has anyone else used this and what do you think about it? Is it worth it and is all the hype about it true?

What other hair strightners do you love??