OK - Here it is, the ultimate comparison to put this debate to rest.
I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to use BOTH of these machines over the past year and HERE are my final conclusions:
OmegaGarden 10001:
($6K to 9K) ALL INCLUSIVE
· Solidly Built & Quiet, but HARD to assemble (takes ALOT of time -2 to 3 hrs., patience, and knowledge of mechanics i.e. motors etc..) SUPER HEAVY BALLAST BOXES!!! Nice that its on Rollers... NOT Very Logical Assembly (NEED to use instructional Video that came with it, at least the first time)
· The internal ballast wires weren't even cut to the right length when I received the machine and I had to modify it right off the bat just to assemble it and make it work.
· The exhaust uses 2 COMPUTER FANS for 2 600 watt lights! Through a 3.5" Hole nonetheless. Fans inneficiently exhaust by pushing air out against each other at opposing directions (no logical push through one side, pull on the other.) Obviously glass tube runs hot... Had to remove computer fans and can't even connect a 4" duct to flanges properly... they're a half inch too small... Sooo... Had to bust out the rotozip and, again, MODIFY the Exhausts to 6" with new flanges etc... Not fun...
· Taking Trays on and off is VERY EASY !!! (with or without plants in trays) Sometimes difficult to steady both sides with just one person (they interlock on both sides in to a L shaped Hole - i.e. L Shaped Metal protrusiion fits in the L-shaped Hole) But gets easier with practice and a steady hand.
GiGrow 240:
$4K to $5K WITHOUT BALLASTS / PUMPS / RESERVOIR
· Solidly built, but less so than the Omega. Still a trustworthy machine. MUCH less heavy than Omega and breaks down into manageable pieces quickly. Assembles FAST - Less than 1 Hour. Kinda NOISY Humming sound. NO ROLLERS (so you better position it right the 1st time!!) Very Logical Assembly (No real need for instructions)
· Connected (2) 600 Watt digital ballasts for Unbiased Comparison with Omega. Had to HARDWIRE the lamp modules directly.
· Cool Tube is a simple 6" diameter Glass tube and very easy to vent through.
· Putting the Trays on using the included tool is easy, but requires some Muscle. Taking the trays OFF is a BITCH!!! Sometimes had to twist trays to detach them from a locking latch device underneath the tray, potentially causing trays to bend out of shape. Trays could go FLYING off the machine... wouldn't even try it with plants in trays.
OMEGA:
· Around 4.5' Wide by 5.5' Long.
· 24 Trays @ 42" Wide w/ 3" x 3" x 3" Cubes @14 Cubes per Tray = 336 Plants
· TOTAL VOLUME OF 3" x 3" x 3" CUBES = 27 Cubic inches (IMPORTANT FOR ROOT MASS i.e. Bigger Plants...)
· DISTANCE From Center glass Light to tray = 17" ( Machine must sit about a foot off the floor to allow room for Reservoir below. REALLY LIMITS SIZE OF PLANTS.
· Simple Ebb and Flow design - Reservoir below pumps water UP into a METAL reservoir above. Trays pass through metal reservoir over a set period of time. LESS control over how much water each tray gets. MUST position drain tube at proper height or you will either give the trays TOO much water and drip everywhere, or too little water and not feed them enough. ALL PLANTS MUST USE SAME NUTE WATER!!! RECIRCULATING!!
· Metal Rotor Gears grind against wheel frame near top reservoir causing MANY flakes of metal to enter top reservoir. Cannot be good for Nutes/Plants stability.
· Accessing inside plants made difficult by Vertical Ballast Box Column on each side.
· Timer controls Easy to use on outside of Ballast box Column.
· Internal Ballast Box Columns get hot and cannot be placed outside of grow room as they are permanently affixed to machine.
· Internal ballasts are cheap, oldschool open air electric wires, and not housed within a seperate component. Semi-concerning with all the humidity floating around / water dripping. NOT DIGITAL!!!
· Glass Tube has no connected ducts. JUST ONE LONG GLASS TUBE. It attaches to nothing but (2) 6" holes that it sits on, and therefore does NOT vent air properly. Vents air into Ballast columns / out gap between 6" holes in columns for tube. Had to use weather sealing to cover gap up. Weather sealing wouldn't stay because of heat...
· Rollers on Machine are GREAT but must be rolled over 25 Gallon plastic reservoir that fits perfectly beaneath machine before moving elsewhere. i.e. must roll forward or back about 3 to 4 feet before rolling sideways/ around.
· Gears are a LITTLE too out in the open and feel as though one wrong move could take off a finger.
· Foliar feeding will spray onto the glass light tube. Must clean off light tube constantly from any drips or foliar feeding spray.
· Flushing is difficult - You can recirculate flush water in reservoir for a while but cannot hand pour into rockwool very easily for maximum runoff.
GI-GROW:
· About 5' W by 6' Long
· 24 Trays at 40" Wide w/ (10) 4" x 4" x 2.5" cubes per tray = 240 Plants
· TOTAL VOLUME OF 4" x 4" x 2.5" Cubes = 40 cubic inches VS. OMEGA's 27 Cubic Inches!!!MUCH MORE ROOM FOR ROOT MASS = BIGGER PLANTS!
· Comes with 2 different sized wheels!!! One at 17" from center of Light and one at 24" from center of Light. Greater distance = BIGGER PLANTS!!!
· No Reservoir Below tray makes room for Larger Wheel BUT needs extra space for a Reservoir to be set beside the machine. A 17 Gallon Reservoir will last about a week.
· Uses a top-fed DRIP system on timer that drips on bottom of each of 10 Cubes per tray every time each tray comes in contact with a sensor at top of machine. MUST MAKE SURE DRIPPERS DON'T CLOG and MUST Re-Adjust Amount of TIME DRIP system stays on throughout course of the grow. VERY Easy to OVER/ UNDER Drip if not careful. 2 Hours of Drip time = about 6 Passes per tray. HAVE CONTROL OVER HOW MUCH EACH DRIPPER FEEDS PLANT BY USING A CONTROL VALVE ON INDIVIDUAL DRIPPERS. (When large plants spaced together, can make sure they receive more drips than small plants with no over-dripping.)
· Drain to Waste = More Efficient use of Nutrients.
· DIFFERENT NUTES CAN BE USED FOR DIFFERENT PLANTS!!! = POTENTIAL TO HAVE 10 DIFFERENT STRAINS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF FLOWER IN MACHINE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. (i.e. Perpetual harvest) BUT WOULD NEED 10 DIFFERENT RESERVOIRS...
· Had problem with Gear at first. Called up Owner of GiGrow and was given an answer immediately. Simple Fix. Accessing Gear can be a bit tricky, but safe as gear box is covered and below machine so no need to worry about taking fingers off.
· Accessing plants VERY SIMPLE. Can move plants around without taking off individual trays. HOWEVER If plants are spaced apart inside of tray (i.e. 5 per tray on every other opening) Plants can shift around inside tray and leave opening for drippers to miss feeding bottom of rockwool. This can leave DRIPS on other Plants and KILL your plant by not feeding it at all.
· Ballasts can be placed outside of Grow room. LESS HEAT to control.
· Glass Tube can be vented PERFECTLY!!! Cooler tube = Bigger plants closer to Light.
· No Rollers = Hard to clean under machine without removing trays.
· Foliar feeding will spray onto the glass light tube. Must clean off light tube constantly from any drips or foliar feeding spray.
· Flushing is nearly impossible. Can't do a drain to waste flush & there is no room for runoff.
I WILL NOT discuss specific numbers, but I will say that all conditions equal (i.e. plant numbers / strain / nutes etc...) the Gi-Grow outperformed the OMEGA in total flowering YIELD by 1.5 times.
Most Likely this is due to the fact that I was using the 24" diameter ring on the GiGrow as opposed to Omega's FIXED 17" ring which increased plant size on Gi to around 18"'s as opposed to Omega's 10" plants. BUT WHY WOULD I USE THE 17" RING on the GI WHEN I HAVE ACCESS TO THE 24"?
On both machines, plants were vegged outside machine in trays first. Obviously Gi's veg. was a bit longer to make for taller plants. Roots were protruding trhough bottom of cubes adequately to prevent plant from falling out before being placed in machine.
Limited by Omega's inefficiently vented glass tube, the plants received a bit of heat stress as opposed to Gi's which could easily have been grown right up to about 4 inches from the light.
IN CONCLUSION, all things considered, (price/ design/ efficiency) The GIGROW is a MUCH better machine than the Omega or any Omega-style Flood and Drain Rotational Machine INCLUDING THE VOLKSGARDEN (I know they say you can pick up the Volks wheel and leave if you have to with all your plants in it, but thats a bunch of crap... You would need 3 strong guys... would stress out your plants in the process because they don't like going from rotation to still all the sudden then where do you put them? and frankly if you need to move that quick, you're probably already in trouble.)
The reality is folks, Rotational Machines have a ways to go before they are practical for the price... Yes it is possible to DOUBLE your yield on a similar space sized sea of green (not much more than double), but for equal amount of lighting you are still better off going with a little longer veg. time and less numbers of BIGGER plants. Bigger stems/ root mass = Bigger colas = Bigger Yield & Less tedious trimming...
To maximize a space the size of a rotational (around 5' x 5' to 6') I would suggest using half the light (a single 600 Watt), 1 Plant per square foot / SCROG and perhaps a light mover... Go CoCo... and veg. those pre-colas with tight internodes (closer light) past the screen a good amount (8" to 12") before flipping to flower. I guarantee you'll be happy with the result and it'll cost a HELL of a lot less than buying hundreds of cubes for the machines, and probably be a lot less work and less hassle than cloning 100's of plants and maintaining them all simultaneously...
MY FINAL WORDS I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH ARE:
Regular growing techniques have been working for hundreds of years... they have proven themselves effective and have evolved and been constantly developed upon for maximum efficiency / yield.
IF IT AIN'T BROKEN DON'T FIX IT!!!
If there is one thing that would be much more beneficial for development purposes it is LIGHTING!! Let's Make LED's work, or some other form of lighting that is energy and heat efficient and ultimately replicates the sun more effectively. ROTATIONALS are AWESOME to look at with all those plants spinning around like one big giant Wheel of Life, but ultimately just not worth much more than that...
(Cue Mr. OmegaFarmer)
Peace,
Love 
and Happy Growing Peoples...
SHMOKA...
I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to use BOTH of these machines over the past year and HERE are my final conclusions:
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS ON DESIGN
OmegaGarden 10001:
($6K to 9K) ALL INCLUSIVE
· Solidly Built & Quiet, but HARD to assemble (takes ALOT of time -2 to 3 hrs., patience, and knowledge of mechanics i.e. motors etc..) SUPER HEAVY BALLAST BOXES!!! Nice that its on Rollers... NOT Very Logical Assembly (NEED to use instructional Video that came with it, at least the first time)
· The internal ballast wires weren't even cut to the right length when I received the machine and I had to modify it right off the bat just to assemble it and make it work.
· The exhaust uses 2 COMPUTER FANS for 2 600 watt lights! Through a 3.5" Hole nonetheless. Fans inneficiently exhaust by pushing air out against each other at opposing directions (no logical push through one side, pull on the other.) Obviously glass tube runs hot... Had to remove computer fans and can't even connect a 4" duct to flanges properly... they're a half inch too small... Sooo... Had to bust out the rotozip and, again, MODIFY the Exhausts to 6" with new flanges etc... Not fun...
· Taking Trays on and off is VERY EASY !!! (with or without plants in trays) Sometimes difficult to steady both sides with just one person (they interlock on both sides in to a L shaped Hole - i.e. L Shaped Metal protrusiion fits in the L-shaped Hole) But gets easier with practice and a steady hand.
GiGrow 240:
$4K to $5K WITHOUT BALLASTS / PUMPS / RESERVOIR
· Solidly built, but less so than the Omega. Still a trustworthy machine. MUCH less heavy than Omega and breaks down into manageable pieces quickly. Assembles FAST - Less than 1 Hour. Kinda NOISY Humming sound. NO ROLLERS (so you better position it right the 1st time!!) Very Logical Assembly (No real need for instructions)
· Connected (2) 600 Watt digital ballasts for Unbiased Comparison with Omega. Had to HARDWIRE the lamp modules directly.
· Cool Tube is a simple 6" diameter Glass tube and very easy to vent through.
· Putting the Trays on using the included tool is easy, but requires some Muscle. Taking the trays OFF is a BITCH!!! Sometimes had to twist trays to detach them from a locking latch device underneath the tray, potentially causing trays to bend out of shape. Trays could go FLYING off the machine... wouldn't even try it with plants in trays.
PRACTICALITY & EFFICIENCY OF DESIGN
OMEGA:
· Around 4.5' Wide by 5.5' Long.
· 24 Trays @ 42" Wide w/ 3" x 3" x 3" Cubes @14 Cubes per Tray = 336 Plants
· TOTAL VOLUME OF 3" x 3" x 3" CUBES = 27 Cubic inches (IMPORTANT FOR ROOT MASS i.e. Bigger Plants...)
· DISTANCE From Center glass Light to tray = 17" ( Machine must sit about a foot off the floor to allow room for Reservoir below. REALLY LIMITS SIZE OF PLANTS.
· Simple Ebb and Flow design - Reservoir below pumps water UP into a METAL reservoir above. Trays pass through metal reservoir over a set period of time. LESS control over how much water each tray gets. MUST position drain tube at proper height or you will either give the trays TOO much water and drip everywhere, or too little water and not feed them enough. ALL PLANTS MUST USE SAME NUTE WATER!!! RECIRCULATING!!
· Metal Rotor Gears grind against wheel frame near top reservoir causing MANY flakes of metal to enter top reservoir. Cannot be good for Nutes/Plants stability.
· Accessing inside plants made difficult by Vertical Ballast Box Column on each side.
· Timer controls Easy to use on outside of Ballast box Column.
· Internal Ballast Box Columns get hot and cannot be placed outside of grow room as they are permanently affixed to machine.
· Internal ballasts are cheap, oldschool open air electric wires, and not housed within a seperate component. Semi-concerning with all the humidity floating around / water dripping. NOT DIGITAL!!!
· Glass Tube has no connected ducts. JUST ONE LONG GLASS TUBE. It attaches to nothing but (2) 6" holes that it sits on, and therefore does NOT vent air properly. Vents air into Ballast columns / out gap between 6" holes in columns for tube. Had to use weather sealing to cover gap up. Weather sealing wouldn't stay because of heat...
· Rollers on Machine are GREAT but must be rolled over 25 Gallon plastic reservoir that fits perfectly beaneath machine before moving elsewhere. i.e. must roll forward or back about 3 to 4 feet before rolling sideways/ around.
· Gears are a LITTLE too out in the open and feel as though one wrong move could take off a finger.
· Foliar feeding will spray onto the glass light tube. Must clean off light tube constantly from any drips or foliar feeding spray.
· Flushing is difficult - You can recirculate flush water in reservoir for a while but cannot hand pour into rockwool very easily for maximum runoff.
GI-GROW:
· About 5' W by 6' Long
· 24 Trays at 40" Wide w/ (10) 4" x 4" x 2.5" cubes per tray = 240 Plants
· TOTAL VOLUME OF 4" x 4" x 2.5" Cubes = 40 cubic inches VS. OMEGA's 27 Cubic Inches!!!MUCH MORE ROOM FOR ROOT MASS = BIGGER PLANTS!
· Comes with 2 different sized wheels!!! One at 17" from center of Light and one at 24" from center of Light. Greater distance = BIGGER PLANTS!!!
· No Reservoir Below tray makes room for Larger Wheel BUT needs extra space for a Reservoir to be set beside the machine. A 17 Gallon Reservoir will last about a week.
· Uses a top-fed DRIP system on timer that drips on bottom of each of 10 Cubes per tray every time each tray comes in contact with a sensor at top of machine. MUST MAKE SURE DRIPPERS DON'T CLOG and MUST Re-Adjust Amount of TIME DRIP system stays on throughout course of the grow. VERY Easy to OVER/ UNDER Drip if not careful. 2 Hours of Drip time = about 6 Passes per tray. HAVE CONTROL OVER HOW MUCH EACH DRIPPER FEEDS PLANT BY USING A CONTROL VALVE ON INDIVIDUAL DRIPPERS. (When large plants spaced together, can make sure they receive more drips than small plants with no over-dripping.)
· Drain to Waste = More Efficient use of Nutrients.
· DIFFERENT NUTES CAN BE USED FOR DIFFERENT PLANTS!!! = POTENTIAL TO HAVE 10 DIFFERENT STRAINS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF FLOWER IN MACHINE AT ANY GIVEN TIME. (i.e. Perpetual harvest) BUT WOULD NEED 10 DIFFERENT RESERVOIRS...
· Had problem with Gear at first. Called up Owner of GiGrow and was given an answer immediately. Simple Fix. Accessing Gear can be a bit tricky, but safe as gear box is covered and below machine so no need to worry about taking fingers off.
· Accessing plants VERY SIMPLE. Can move plants around without taking off individual trays. HOWEVER If plants are spaced apart inside of tray (i.e. 5 per tray on every other opening) Plants can shift around inside tray and leave opening for drippers to miss feeding bottom of rockwool. This can leave DRIPS on other Plants and KILL your plant by not feeding it at all.
· Ballasts can be placed outside of Grow room. LESS HEAT to control.
· Glass Tube can be vented PERFECTLY!!! Cooler tube = Bigger plants closer to Light.
· No Rollers = Hard to clean under machine without removing trays.
· Foliar feeding will spray onto the glass light tube. Must clean off light tube constantly from any drips or foliar feeding spray.
· Flushing is nearly impossible. Can't do a drain to waste flush & there is no room for runoff.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I WILL NOT discuss specific numbers, but I will say that all conditions equal (i.e. plant numbers / strain / nutes etc...) the Gi-Grow outperformed the OMEGA in total flowering YIELD by 1.5 times.
Most Likely this is due to the fact that I was using the 24" diameter ring on the GiGrow as opposed to Omega's FIXED 17" ring which increased plant size on Gi to around 18"'s as opposed to Omega's 10" plants. BUT WHY WOULD I USE THE 17" RING on the GI WHEN I HAVE ACCESS TO THE 24"?
On both machines, plants were vegged outside machine in trays first. Obviously Gi's veg. was a bit longer to make for taller plants. Roots were protruding trhough bottom of cubes adequately to prevent plant from falling out before being placed in machine.
Limited by Omega's inefficiently vented glass tube, the plants received a bit of heat stress as opposed to Gi's which could easily have been grown right up to about 4 inches from the light.
IN CONCLUSION, all things considered, (price/ design/ efficiency) The GIGROW is a MUCH better machine than the Omega or any Omega-style Flood and Drain Rotational Machine INCLUDING THE VOLKSGARDEN (I know they say you can pick up the Volks wheel and leave if you have to with all your plants in it, but thats a bunch of crap... You would need 3 strong guys... would stress out your plants in the process because they don't like going from rotation to still all the sudden then where do you put them? and frankly if you need to move that quick, you're probably already in trouble.)
The reality is folks, Rotational Machines have a ways to go before they are practical for the price... Yes it is possible to DOUBLE your yield on a similar space sized sea of green (not much more than double), but for equal amount of lighting you are still better off going with a little longer veg. time and less numbers of BIGGER plants. Bigger stems/ root mass = Bigger colas = Bigger Yield & Less tedious trimming...
To maximize a space the size of a rotational (around 5' x 5' to 6') I would suggest using half the light (a single 600 Watt), 1 Plant per square foot / SCROG and perhaps a light mover... Go CoCo... and veg. those pre-colas with tight internodes (closer light) past the screen a good amount (8" to 12") before flipping to flower. I guarantee you'll be happy with the result and it'll cost a HELL of a lot less than buying hundreds of cubes for the machines, and probably be a lot less work and less hassle than cloning 100's of plants and maintaining them all simultaneously...
MY FINAL WORDS I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH ARE:
Regular growing techniques have been working for hundreds of years... they have proven themselves effective and have evolved and been constantly developed upon for maximum efficiency / yield.
IF IT AIN'T BROKEN DON'T FIX IT!!!
If there is one thing that would be much more beneficial for development purposes it is LIGHTING!! Let's Make LED's work, or some other form of lighting that is energy and heat efficient and ultimately replicates the sun more effectively. ROTATIONALS are AWESOME to look at with all those plants spinning around like one big giant Wheel of Life, but ultimately just not worth much more than that...
(Cue Mr. OmegaFarmer)
Peace,
Love and Happy Growing Peoples...SHMOKA...
Also, thanks for such a beautifully detailed response... oh by the way, do you mind mentioning where exactly I went wrong with the dimensions that you're referring to? Thanks again in advance!! 
