Sorry traction I disagree with the comment of "at the end of the day, its the quality of the service that matters most". I give you a piece of junk, service it, with a master service technician, its still a piece of junk, serviced superbly. Now take a work horse Like a DMC, service it with a cheap imitation tech, its still a great product, damn near bulletproof. If that scrub can keep his hands off it, and clean the sills, might run for 15-20 years.

To the OP, ALL PRODUCTS have gremlins and kinks to work out when they are brand new. Otis gen 2 governor, Thyssens Crisis, oops I mean ISIS. If you are comfortable being a bit of a guinea pig, go for the belt drive. There is always a bit of a risk being on the cutting edge of technology...