Gimmick? Don't think so, I'll take the fifth station, auto advancing and case feeder options of a 650 every day of the week and twice on Sunday over a 550.
I use the powder check, not religiously, but specifically with 223 as it allows me to monitor the powder charge with tremendous accuracy. I can't see in the case, despite extra light, and I set-up my powder check so I can easily see how much powder is in the case by seeing where the point contacts/stops on the rod. I can easily see a 0.1 - 0.2 difference in powder using brass with the same headstamp.
YMMV
^^^, agree.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk