I also agree that Scotties are the way to go. I recently replaced my 1050s that crank 1 foot a turn, with 1099 electrics on swivel bases. Have also fished the 1080 longarms that wind 2 feet per turn, much nicer and easier than the 1050s. But once you buy the manuals and see how long rigs take to go up and down all day long rebaiting, removing seaweed, jellyfish, dogfish and deciding if you want to hassel with going 150ft or more and the fact that the fish may tangle in the DR cable, you will wish you had the electrics. Super quiet 3ft a second retreival, auto ANY depth stop, auto stop at boom.Hook a fish, push the button and in seconds you'll lose the ability to use the excuse that you lost it on the DR line. And for $299 at SportCo, you can't beat it.(cheapest online was $279 but shipping evened out the price) And as for the black box, all scotty DRs have that technology built in. If you are looking for a great deal look at the telescoping 36"-60" Pro scotty combo electric downrigger package at http://www.outlaw.com . $399 for their top of the line 60" boom DR with a swivel base and dual pole holders. Nothing can top that deal. Wish i had seen it first. A problem i encountered was some of the manual bases were different than the electric bases so consider that if you purchase a low end manual first and decide to go to the electrics later, you may have holes or damage to cover up or repair from the previous DR mount. Hope that helps.