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I have both the Prodigy Advance and the Lionel Challenger (two of these, actually). For me this is a great combination. I am able to program the four digit road numbers and can access all the functions from my hand held controller. The PA system cost about $190 (or about $200 w/shipping from Tony's Trains) when I bought it after Christmas. That is about three times the price of the EZ Command system from Bachmann. Having never used the Bachmann system, I can't compare them. The reason I chose the PA was that it offered the best features (of those that I wanted) for the price. The biggest things for me were the handheld throttle and the four digit addressing. There were other things as well, but those were two of the things I wanted most in my new system, and all the cheaper alternatives I looked at did not offer them. The Lionel Challenger uses F9 through F12 for various sounds, so having these available is nice, although, so far, I've used these functions only for trying out the system. The quality of the PA system seems to be about on par with other electronics items I've seen recently that were made in China as the PA system is. The handheld throttle has a nice, comfortable feel for me, and has an easy to use built in display panel. The PA system worked as I expected it to, and so far, has not caused me any problems. One thing that is somewhat disappointing is that it only supports 2.5 amps out of the box. It will support 3.5 amps with a different power supply, or you can add the MRC Power Station 8 booster for up to (I believe) ten amps, which for HO is more than enough power for most users.
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