I don't claim to be an expert on everything, I try to keep my opinions within the range of things that I know. But in addition to running this business I have been a modeler for a long time.

When I see a new product I generally do a quick evaluation to see if it's something that I can use to improve my setup or to solve a problem. IF it seems to be of no value to me, then I notice when others use it and ask them "why" to try to learn what they know that I don't. More often than not the answe back is "because I saw i in an ad" or "because the big guys use it" or even "because I had it".

It's almost never "I had this problem and this geegaw solved it nicely".

I'm all in favor of using the latest gizmo if it actually does something that needs doing. For example a power box seems to make sense on a really big plane with 14 servos, if for no other reason than it gives you a place to plug everything in neatly. But putting a power box on a 28% plane with 6 servos makes no sense and seem to add nothing but weight and complexity, yet lots of people do it.

I don't think that it's necessary to understand the internals of everything before you buy it. BUt I strongly recommend that you ask yourself two questions before buying something that you think is cool;

1. Do I actually need this thing or am I trying to solve an imaginary problem?
2. If I put this thing in my plane, will it actually make things better?

I'm always happy to answer specific questions if I can.

TF