First off the time difference sucks. Right now hawaii is 6 hours behind NY. They don't do DST so for part of the year it goes to being only 5 hours behind. I traded while I was out there, FX only tho. High speed internet wont be a problem. I lived in Kona, which is on the other side of the island from Hilo. The town is pretty beat, not much going on over there or any town on the big island. On a side note, I hated almost every second of it. The first 2 months were fine, after that I started losing it. But some people I knew loved it. Good luck.
A friend of mine had a similar experience. It took a couple years to build a house. He mentioned that not being an "islander" could cause issues getting things done. That was 10-plus years ago. He was in Honaunau, Captain Cook. Ended up drinking himself to death, "island justice" grabbed all his possessions. Paradise is where you make it.
One thing you mainlanders coming to Hawaii should know... Hawaii is one of the more racist states' in the union. And if you have blond hair and blue eyes, it IS the most racist state by far. And if you end up on the Big Island, Kauai, or certain parts of Maui, you had better mind your P's and Q's. Oahu can be bad also but it's more transient in nature. There's a huge difference between a visiting Haole and a putting up a mailbox Haole.
So, his stories had truth to them. Too bad. His brother had moved to Kona back in the early 70's, but he spent many years leading a low-profile life. My friend bought several acres on the side of a hill, 50 mile view up the coast. He tried to get the house built in a Yankee time- frame. Never happened. I still have a Bong Bros. coffee sack hanging downstairs.
The '70's were particularly bad for Haoles. There was a strong Hawaiian renaissance during that time period and whitey was looked at as everything wrong that happened along their way. There is so much distrust and blame on BOTH sides. However, the state refuses to recognize this, and one day something very bad is going to erupt on a larger scale than the not so isolated "incidents" that occur quite frequently. Anybody who's lived here for an amount of time knows exactly what I'm talking about.
While I was living in Kona I got kicked out of a bar because, "The white man cut all the trees down". I didn't even know what was going on, but I was white so out i went. Even if you are born in Hawaii you still will never be a local if you are white. Even at work there was racism toward white people. It's an odd place.