take it from a person who has owned a few setups now if you dont do the work before you step in front of the decks and then the practice in your own time away from others (meaning developing self critiquing skills) you will never be able to hold a solid mix together good gear is great, but as mentioned above what use are certain functions if you wont use them. for most its a play, cue and method of scrolling through a track. beyond that is a bonus. i personally dont use the variable jog wheel functions on my 2000's but ask me how ide feel without my hot cue banks, cue points and link functions and ide probably hurt you. use what your skill level allows while providing you room to expand. when you stop being able to add new things, new skills, techniques or flavour to your set youll get stagnent, boring and you mightnt even listen to yourself which is always a bad sign.