I just went thru this decision process this year. Many folks are fiercely brand loyal and I am sure you will get many comments. For me, I decided what I was likely to pursue and then bought the type of transmitter and receivers that I felt would serve me best. For example, I figured I would wind up with Giant scale with smoke. I also figured I may want to go with the telemetry. I also did not believe that I wanted to spend anymore than necessary to get the features that I would use. I am not really into having to have the fanciest things as longs as they work reliably. I also am a long time ham radio operator, so, I know a bit about UHF handheld radios. Being a Project Manager from a N-Plant, I also know simple is best and do not count on single failure mechanisms.

So, ... I went with Spektrum.They have remote receivers that are redundant, they are not exorbitantly expensive and they have had the time to work out their technology on the DX models. The DX8s have plenty of channels, work with all their receivers, except a few old ones, have proven reliable and quite flexible for mixes, etc. The DX8 also has telemetry and flight log data displays built right in. I have also used the DX6i on Helis w/o any problems. I am now using 7 channels of the DX8 and telemetry. When I tell my friends about fades, frame losses, and holds(Flight Log Data) &head temps and Rxer voltages, etc. all of a sudden they are not so brand loyal any more. More Spectrums have been showing up at the fields where I fly.

I have used Tactic, JR, AnyLink, Spektrum DX5e, DX6i, DX8 and Futaba. It seems to me that Tactic is just too low level w/o computer access. AnyLink is a waste (i.e. an unplugging away from Any Failure, like any other external module.) JR is too expensive for what you get and the programming iscomparativelycomplex, for me. And Futaba, while it may have been the best 4-5 years ago, it is kind of appears to me as being behind the times (e.g. Flight Logging and Telemetry, etc.). So, I went with Spektrum and am watching for JR to make some kind of big move to bring it back up to speed. In the meantime, my DX8s work just fine, and I have a second one for a backup w/o spending more than I would for one of the JRs or fancy Futabas.