truth, i have not used one. the mounting system appears clunky and well, slow.
otherwise, "tabletop" and "dropweight" don't resonate "convenience" to me.
if you can explain otherwise, I'll listen. I'd rather string on an upright anyday (much more convenient). also, DW in general doesn't promote convenience. never has,
not saying it's a poor machine, but to hype it over other seems misguided. sure, it's differenent and it IS cp. but that doesn't really matter to me.
We're talking about shortcomings in a thread specifically dedicated to the machine; it's fair to say that these are probably not deal killers if we haven't yet moved on to another machine. I would still have my MS200TT today if I didn't have a bum shoulder. The machine is absolutely stellar for the price point, and can easily compete with higher end machines.
As far as convenience, I'd say it's not as effortless to tension, obviously, but how true the tensioner is IMO IS worth the trouble. I'd say it's competitive with a crank, as it's not exactly difficult to lift the weight. With the automatic jaws, the weight rests in the 'ready' position, and the jaw will 'sense' a string inserted and drop when that occurs. It's a cinch, and it's one of the most beautiful tensioning systems I've used. The stand up model (non DW) is designed for speed -- just try it.
Clamps are actually extremely well designed - they could be easier to move around and they could have less drawback, but they are VERY good. I'd say the clamp quality (minus drawback) blows my Gamma clamps away. I haven't used the thin profile (newer?) Gamma clamps yet, so I can't comment on those. The clamp bases (DA) on the SW/LF machines are awesome, very positive and very hard to make a mistake on. They have the capability of catching string, though.
Mounting is very well DESIGNED, but slower than average. This is the biggest gripe I have with the machine, probably. They could have implemented it better. This isn't to say it's not usable OR unsafe -- it's designed very well, and I believe it is robust. Having to screw a hold down though is pretty crappy for this tier of machine. If your argument is "convenience" -- this is probably the one area I'd concede. I won't say an independent arm adjustment is much better, though (Think lower end Gamma 6 points). They're more versatile, though, that's for sure.
Question for the stringway users.
Do you think it's necessary to have the concorde system included on the stringer?
Thanks
No. In fact, I'd say that while it's a good idea, it might actually introduce a variable into your personal method versus others. Whether or not customers actually like that is a different story...