I have a digital 400-watt Lumatek ballast, with which I've been very happy. I just ordered a 1k light, non-digital, not here yet, so can't comment on that yet except to say: 55 pounds (for the ballast/bulb/cordset/reflector), jeez. I think digital ballasts are worthwhile. Haven't seen many digital 1ks yet; I think I'll wait a while before getting one of those, in case they haven't got the kinks all worked out yet. If I'm not confident in 1k digitals by next summer, I may get a 600-watt digital to use during the hot months. I have no prob with the extra heat of a non-digital 1k in the winter; in fact, it saves on the heating bill!

As for the radio/cable/satellite RF interference issue: I think that was just the initial round of production, before the manufacturers realized that was an issue. I don't have that problem with the Lumatek ballast, and it's not far at all from my satellite line coming in and my satellite service's DVR, and there are no interference issues. I wouldn't worry about that at this point; I'm pretty sure they're all shielded well now to prevent that.