I've got a Riptide with the Co-pilot and love it. I have the foot control and used to carry it as a backup but never used it. Once you have a clear front deck(no foot pedal) you will not want to use a foot pedal again. You can run your boat from anywhere in your boat. I've actually gotten on another boat to help someone with motor problem and used my remote to drive my boat back to me. The auto pilot function works well when you are fighting wind and current. I have heard the I-Pilot has had some issues. The anchor lock feature wasn't as accurate as advertised and some had failures in the remote. I'm sure MK will fix all of these problems. I have extra remotes and batteries for my remotes. They run around $50. Keeping an extra I-Pilot as a backup might be expensive. The remotes are NOT waterproof! Don't reach in your bait tank or lip a fish under the water with it on(don't ask How I know this!). I have a saltwater and a freshwater TM from Minn Kota. I have used my freshwater TM in salt but you must rinse it very good after using it. If you will be anywhere near saltwater go with the saltwater version. As said above, your warrantly is voided if you use the fresh version in salt.