[Rail-Rider]

As someone giving VERY serious consideration to digital control, I clearly have a 'new interest'. The very last thing I want is for intelligent and informative discussion to be stifled under the guise of 'nurturing'. Good, bad or indifferent, we need to know the facts.

'Trust' is built on real world experience as opposed to blind faith in a name - any name. When any manufacturer introduces a product that is new to that manufacturer, it would be most unwise for uninformed newcomers to buy on the basis of blind faith. If people don't choose to read critical facts, that is certainly their right. But let us not rob them of their ability to choose by depriving them of the opportunity to do so.

Before spending my money on anything, I NEED to be in a position to make intelligent and informed decisions that are soundly based on what that product can actually do for me. It is even more important that I know for certain what it CANNOT do! Frankly, the purchase cost remains wholly irrelevant until I can assemble that essential performance information. If it cannot do what I need it to do, no matter how low the price, it is still money straight down the toilet.

This topic discusses a brand new Hornby control system and I would much prefer to discuss that system's significant pros and cons right here. It would be the opposite of helpful to be diverted to another topic and have to shuttle back and forth trying to tie complex information together from several sources if it can be achieved in one.

A specific case in point here is a possible limitation on the number of units that the
new Hornby system can address. It's clear from previous posts that some confusion exists. That single factor is so critical that a system purchase choice can stand or fall upon that alone. I, for one, can't afford to make expensive mistakes through lack of crucial data and I thank everyone who is taking the time to provide it here. It really is appreciated

 

[Rail-Rider]

QUOTE These are brands that a very, very high proportion of Hornby customers have not heard of with very little customer support in the UK.
True - and so it might well remain were it not for free, informative discussion on independent boards such as this. Spreading knowledge is one of the board's primary functions. We should also remember that there are people here who are not already "Hornby customers" and want to know the pertinent facts.
Knowledge should be encouraged to grow and expand to the benefit of all, not be confined and constrained to a single customer base or one manufacturer.

QUOTE I don't understand the issue.
Sorry if I didn't already make it clear enough - I'll try again.

The 'issue' is that no matter how 'cheap' a system may appear to be, IF it has built-in limitations that prevent achievement of a customer's aims, it is money straight down the toilet. Informed discussion is a way to clarify this. It might not be an 'issue' at all, but a potential customer must be granted the right to know before buying.

The cheapest possible setup would appear to be a £50 base unit plus two £10 chips, totalling £70. That's on the reasonable assumption that it's pointless to go digital with only one locomotive. While individual budgets may vary considerably, most people would not be at all happy to discover they had wasted £70 on something that eventually proved to be unsuitable, some way down the line. Unfortunately, without benefit of informed knowledge, it would be quite possible for that limitation to remain concealed until considerably more than £70 were spent. That is why any potential limitations MUST be clearly known in advance.

It puzzles me why anyone might actively wish to be less than fully informed or advocate that others should be put in that position. A complete newcomer to digital would likely not have any idea of how to assess any system and the great value of a free discussion, such as this, is that it raises very important questions that newcomers would not even know they needed to ask.

 

[Rail-Rider]

There is an inescapable similarity between the overly slick PC World anecdote and ' I don't want to know how it works, just buy it' syndrome.
One could be hard pressed to see a significant difference.

On topic
Digital control is very often not quite the simple plug'n'play operation that is often portrayed. If it were, most digital discussion wouldn't exist. We are very fortunate to have people here who know their subject and are willing to help others to avoid mistakes.

As very clearly pointed out earlier, those who don't want more information have always been free to ignore it.
Some of them may have bought a Betamax, a Sinclair C5 or a Zero-1.

Some of us would like to avoid that scenario and free interchange of information is about the most effective way to do it. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion, but mocking and dumbing down others, who seek more, may well offend.