Hi World.. Elation guy jumping in here.
in the world of consoles in general the faders and buttons you commonly use will need to be replaced sometime or another.. sometimes sooner than later.
With the Elation consoles we strive to use the good components to do the Job and not the best component made.. That is why you will see some lighting consoles for alot more money than the Elation product, and some consoles for less money.
We believe our consoles are a great value for the price.
However keep in mind that even lighting shows that use $30,000.00 consoles still have a second console with all the programs waiting to go as a back up.
A back up console is always a smart way to go, if your show must go on.
The Elation 2 year warranty is one of the better warranty's in the market right now. But our warranty only covers manufacturer defect and not necessarily wear and tear. Also its a 2 year parts and 1 year labor warranty so if a year has past, then you may need to pay for the labor.
On the other end, if your technically inclined, it may benifit you to purchase the faders and buttons your self and attemp a repair.
These are commonly sold parts.
Considering you go with an $800.00 console, and that console also gets a bad fader and or button in 1 year.. you are still going to be in a position to pay for shipping to the manufacture to repair and your parts will be more expensive.
No one can say exactly how long electrical equipment will last..Out of the thousands of Scene Setters sold a large percentage of these consoles last 5+ years without service at all in very poor conditions without the care you give your console.
Personally I have gone through 2 $100.00 DVD players that fail within 6 months also in really good enviorments.
I would recommend that a second scene setter 48 will be a good investment as a back up. Chances are this one will last you a long time and you will have a back up in case something happens.
Hope this helps.
Best regards,