The Taigen 2.4 system is not the same as the heng long. I have both, as well as the old rx18. I replaced all the old rx18 units with imex/taigen electronics. I'm not sure if the boards in imex/taigen tanks are the same as the straight taigen, as I've never seen one. I get the Imex electronics kits from island enterprises on ebay (island enterprises is Imex on ebay), and I get the transmitter, receiver and a slightly better speaker delivered to my door for $90. So far I've converted four tanks from HL to Imex with no trouble. I also have the old version HL 2.4 that came with my T34, but right now that's in my all metal mato PIII. It's really not a bad unit, and the new version units have the volume control and the on/off for the smoke unit right on the transmitter, and that looks pretty cool. Erik tells me they're planning upgrades to the Taigen system, I just hope they don't do it like HL and make the new incompatible with the old.

As for the new imex taigen tanks (T34, KT and Sturmtiger), I haven't seen one in person but they have promo videos that look pretty good. I'm pretty sure the new tanks are Torro, but still HL at heart. I do have many other Imex/Taigen tanks, and they're pretty good. A major step up from HL. They're also more expensive.

So in my opinion, the bottom line is that if you want a good tank that's ready to run out of the box then Imex is the way to go, but if you want to start very low cost and slowly add on (or if you just like the hobby aspect of doing it that way, I hesitate to repaint a $400 tank, but not a $75 tank) then HL is a good starter. I like all aspects of the hobby, that's why I have both Imex and HL, as well as a Tamiya kubelwagen, a couple torro halftracks, a ton of static kits, etc, etc, etc. If I ever get around to building this Meilerwagen convoy ...