The primary difference is cost. An
Eos runs $25,000 or so. An
Ion is in the $7500 range. What do you get for the extra $17,000 ?, built in touch screens, so 4 total screens available on the
Eos. Plus motorized playback faders and a better keypad
layout with fewer hidden and
softkey functions. That said, the
Ion (
IMO) does probably 80% of what an
Eos can do, mostly limited by number of universes. The built in touch screens on an
Eos does make life easier in terms of programming with ML's and the like as there's less Tabbing between pages to access functions, so yes, the
Eos makes programming easier, but if you get dual touch screens for an
Ion, life with movers gets a whole lot easier. As to effects, the process is identical on both consoles as the software is the same. Ditto use of
LED's and newer devices, same OS in both desks.
As to sotalight16's needs, The
Ion is a lot easier to re-locate then an
Eos, which is a much larger and heavier
desk and not one I'd be moving around. Both desks can use the add-on
fader wings, which offer terrific functionality and cost effectiveness. I confess that I'm not sure why you'd want to re-locate the
console as it's a pain to lug back and forth. If you only need a remote for lamp checks and focus, the Radio Remote Focus
Unit is a terrific tool. Or you can buy a
dongle for a laptop, run the Off-Line software in Client mode, maybe add a $180 X-Keys box and you've got an easier
system to move around.