i suggest a few guidelines for a buyer :
1- budget, be realistic and dont waste time ( yours or a sellers ) be honest, if you have 1 - 5,000 then you can access certain lines of product, 5-10k others and on and on. whatever your real budget is- tell the folks quoting you right up front.
2 -
level of users. figure out how many diffrent types of users are in your
venue operating the console- it might range from a really skilled tech whiz running a 300
cue show with movers and multi part cues, down to the janitor coming in to push up a sub handle to bring up
house lights for cleaning. do they all need to access the
console ? if so maybe you look at something very capable that still has some
manual sliders.
3 - buy the " best " and " most " you can afford. dont hurt yourself in future by saying " we'll never need that many channels or cues" - cant tell you how fast you can outgrow a board, especially now a days. buy for the user 5-10 years from now. at schools especially
level of expertise shifts with students and faculty.
4 - talk to people who similar venues types and sizes of venues that are using the
console you are looking at - if your a school, ask the dealer or manufacturer for a user reference in your area, go visit and listen to what
current owners like/dont like about the
console.
5 - be concerned of who you buy from. look for a supplier who can provide
drop dead overnight service or back up loaners. yes consoles fail, and always at the wrong time, i dont care who makes them, it happens. plan for it - also, buy from a manufacturer who has a service record - my simple test for owners is this...take the " emergency number for field service support " for the mfg that you are looking at, and
call the thing at..oh say 7 PM factory time. see what happens, do they respond? does the dealer trying to sell it to you have an emergency number, and will they respond?
6 - get a demo, it your space. and make sure you push the buttons. have as many designers there and board ops ( past or present ) as possible.
7 - training. are there user forums or chats for your
console ? will the dealer provide training broken into a couple sessions, a few weeks apart ? i always found this was more helpful - i would train users on basic features, navigation, how to write cues,subs,groups, how to playback and save and retrieve a show. then i would let them
play with it for a couple weeks, go back and answer questions, as well as go further down into the operations. ask your dealer to do this. personally, i dont think anything above a two scene
preset should be bought on
line based on lowest cost... cause who's going to train you and service it, and
bail you out willingly at 7:45 night of show?
hope this helps.