No flames here Don. I completely agree with everything you say. However, your bias does show through loud and clear that you think the higher end systems are the way to go. HERE the vast majority of farmers meet your "exceptions" list where the lesser systems will adequately meet their needs. Very few need repeatability although that may change at some time down the road. I think it is very appropriate to consider needs as you say "one or two years down the road". That is about as far as I would want to go though. If you overbuy a system and pay for more than you need now in anticipation of maybe additional capabilities 3-5 years down the road it could well be money wasted. Whatever the state of the art is right now it surely will not be three years form now and the lower end systems sold then will probably do what a somewhat higher end systems does now at a lot cheaper price. Look at anything from computers to consumer electronics to vehicles - stuff either does more for the same price or costs less to do more. When I bought a PF3000 to do VR it was anticipated then that it would be able to do multi product VR some time soon. A newer platform came out (Insight) and all expansion plans for the PF were scrapped. When it comes to electronics, what we have now will probably still do the job for us 5 years from now but it will be technologically obsolete and and pretty much at a dead end for upgrade.

My advice is when you plan a grain handling system, plan twice as much as you think you will ever need (or in my case about ten times more than I ever thought I would need). When you buy electronics, buy only what you need or will need next year. If you need something more/better, it will be cheaper/better later so no need to "buy ahead" much.