My guess is the young boy would have no problems running any DCC system. He might down the road lose interests if the layout/DCC system is to simple, running a train in small circles just isn't fun. He's also going to be dissapointed if his DCC system won't do all the neat stuff that all the other systems can do.
My recommendation is also for the Digitrax Zephyr Xtra. The feature set on this beginner DCC starter set is very advanced, allowing 4 digit addressing, reading CV's, and simple expansion to radio or infra red throttles, and using Digitrax's Loconet for other advanced features as well as many other advanced features. Additionally, all the other DCC systems (except Lenz) will not allow you to run a straight analog engine or lashup of engines simultaneously with your DCC engines. They obsolete all of your analog/DCC engines and if you want to run them, you've got to wire in DC capability on your layout, which is going to shut off your DCC. Much better to be able to run DC/Analog engines simultaneously with your DCC motive power, just by choosing address "0" on a throttle, then running your DC engines. Yup, the learning curve for Digitrax is rather steep, but there are endless resources online for you to peruse, and it's an American company and won't be suddenly unavailable if there's a change in the political climate in China, Malaysia or Japan. Also Digitrax has one of the very best (if not THE best) guarantees in the industry as well as excellent customer service. Yup, the Zephyr is extremely capable, and several of my fellow train buddies have chosen it both for its price (around 175 bucks) and it's features. As to the 8 year old being able to figure out Digitrax. Are you kidding me??? The kid probably is more computer literate than 80% of the members of this forum! I'm 64 years old and I didn't find learning my Digitrax Super Chief system to be particularly difficult to get used to. Now, it's second nature and I am completely happy with it. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
Like Bob, I heartily recommend the Digitrax system. I'm not a big fan of Digitrax decoders, but I'm a very big fan of their DCC systems, which are robust, infinitely expandable and seem to just work. And I'm also a very big fan of the company, for their engineering and service. With the newest throttles that have multiple function buttons, they are also nearly as easy to use, IMHO, as the Powercab, which I'll admit probably still wins the easy of use wars by a nose. But I agree with Bob - learning DCC might be hard for us over-40 folks, but won't be hard for an 8 year old. Might as well get him into it now so he can give you advice on how to do programming, etc. a year from now! John C.
There are so many things that can be done, it can be overwhelming.... and a bit frightening. The real question is how interested in converting to DCC are you? It may start out as a simple set under the bed, but what happens in 6 more years? If you have no interest in DCC, then maybe his system should also be DC. Otherwise he may lose interest because he will not be able to run trains with you. The easiest way to program decoders is using JRMI and a computer. Digitrax, Soundtraxx and possibly a few others make stand-alone decoder programmers. So if programming issues keep you from using something like the Bachmann controller, you can get the Digitrax PR3, and use it with JMRI on the computer for setting up the programming. It costs somewhere around $60. No worrying about setting individual CV settings using a throttle. And once a decoder is programmed, it will run on every DCC system. The argument over NCE vs Digitrax is old and tired. The best idea is what works for you and where you want to take it. The biggest pitfall in DCC is not paying attention to the power budgets. As things keep getting added on, performance starts to degrade. Not a problem on small layouts, but then again, if sound is added, things need to be re-thought. Sound decoders use more power than regular motion only decoders. In the end, the best system is the one that will work for you now, and still work for you in another 5 or 10 years. The nice thing about DCC is that it does not change that rapidly. I bought the Digitrax Super Chief 10 years ago, and with the exception of a few firmware updates, it is the same device today as it was back then. I think the same can be true with the NCE products. The point being this can be looked at as a long term investment. And it can be costly and a pain in the backside to have to change out the underlying DCC infrastructure for different DCC controllers.
Okay, I am going to buck the trend here. I do not think a DCC system is what you want. First of all this is for an eight year old boy who may lose interest in model railroading when the next video game comes out. A DCC system may be in his future but right now keep it simple and go with analogue DC. Do not assume that an eight year old boy will be able to master the complexities of DCC. If he does fine but if he doesn't, you got a lot of expense simply wasted. A layout that fits under a bed is really small so how many trains and what length will he run? He will probably run only one train and using DCC to control one train on a small layout is a waste of money. Better to go with an analog system with possibly a DCC equipped locomotive. They will run on DC. Then in the future if He does not get sidetracked by something else you can do the DCC system. There is something else here that may be in play. Maybe the DCC part is not for the boy but for the father. Easier to justify to the wife if the son is the intended recipient. If that is the case I suggest you go all the way with a DCC wirelesss radio throttle like the MRC Prodigy Advance Wireless. Other manufacturers make wireless units too. That may seem to be a little on the conniving side but then we model railroaders do have our idiosyncracies. I mean, look how many a new father bought, allegedly for their daughters, a model train for Christmas. I did!
