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One thing that seems to be missing from the iOptron (And is certainly missing from the EQ6-R, it just wasn't a 'thing" when they were designed) is home position sensors. Depending on your level of automation they can be the difference between a 10 minute interruption to imaging, or the loss of whatever the rest of the night is.
My CEM70G has them and in the case of things going seriously south (Which does not tend to happen with my gear, but a friend also with a CEM70G can sometimes see this) I can have my software (Voyager) do anything up to a reboot of the imaging PC and go again from there as my nightly routine starts with remotely homing the mount. If you can't do that you have to trust that the mount has actually stopped where you expect (Park or home)
With my Orion Atlas (AZEQ6 clone) I can't do that homing procedure so a reboot will mean EQMOD fires up assuming the normal pointed at the pole, counterweights down position, if it is not there I risk either rejected syncs from plate solves or equipment crashes.
Equipment crashes is one other thing I wonder about with the strain wave mounts, if they can produce enough torque to lift a 20KG payload without a counterweight, are they a higher risk of equipment damage in the case of a crash? Thinking of a pier crash around the meridian with 20KG+ of force on the side of the camera.
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