Lumatek Worth the $

Hi all have a quick question for you all.
I currently have a ipower 600w digital ballast and was just curious if up grading to a lumatek 600w would be worth it?

i would just from this post if its really true http://www.nwgt.org/showthread.php?8012-Anybody-use-IPOWER-ballasts-WARNING!!

really any ballast should work. i use the dual lumitek 600s. never had any problems. i like how in the summer i can turn them down to 300w so i dont have so much heat. really though, you probably wont notice virtually any difference in your grow. 600wattss is 600watts. digital ballasts save a tad bit of money every month but i believe ipower are digital. save your money unless your worried about that thread

Seems worth the $150-175 to me(online price) ... and the people who allow me in their grow rooms all use Lumatek's.
I've heard mixed reviews of ipower, either way it's your call. Some might argue that Lumateks are usually top 3 of performers when all other factors are equal.

Dont get me wrong my ipower has treated me well, its on its second grow and i have nothing bad to say, but lumateks claim to have better lumens and produce better yeilds interested me.

I run 24/7 lights in my veg room. Been running the same Lumatek 600 and no problems. 2 years now. I'm happy with that.

I think you'd see a better return changing the bulb every year than switching from one 600w ballast to another. Only way to be sure would be to check one ballast with a lux meter, and then using the same bulb, measure the second ballast. I do that when I change bulbs.