Hi Chronosoft
Bit late coming back on this one. Yep, the APTC combo is indeed a paint job on the Robland - which is a bit depressing, really, as they used to sell the SCM Minimax series LAB260/LAB300.
A few years back when I was setting up shop I considered a combi on the grounds of space and the LAB300 and CU300 (the CU has a full-length sliding table) (see SCM Minimax Universal Combinations at
http://www.scmgroup.com/ing/minimax/minimax.htm) as well as the Rojeks, as sold by Jordan Woodworking in Houghton-Le-Spring, Tyne & Wear (tel: 0191 584-0784)
http://www.rojek.cz/ (in English, although I find the site so cranky I'd suggest ringing Jordans). I reckon the Rojek started out as a copy of the Minimax - in appearance and specifications they were very almost identical 6 or 7 years ago - the difference was that the Rojek was considerably cheaper. I looked at both machines in the flesh, and the main thing I could say about the Czech machine is that it was a bit rough around the edges.
I ignored the Robland LX310 at the time because it didn't offer a scorer option, but I was interested in the Lurem (now imported as the Startrite). Pity was that there was no way to get to see one (this pre-dates Startrite selling the machine). I had used a Lurem C260N combination in the 1970s for a couple of years (pa in law's). The Lurem back then was a hulking great solid cast iron beast with separate motors, but very crude saw tilt and rise/fall controls - not much finesse there! But at least there was no crawling around underneath changing belts. Function changeover was a pain, though, as you always had to reset fences, so any piece of work was a planning exercise in itself.
I've seen the Felder on quite a few WW shows over the years - it just gets better and better. Sadly, the price reflects that, and by the time you add on the "essential (hidden) extras" you need on top of the basic machine it can start to cost.
I now work with solo machines (with the sole exception of a planer/thicknesser) and find it infinitely preferable. In cost there probably hasn't been much difference between a set of solos and an equivalent combi, so I'd say that you probably won't save money by going down the combi route. Anyhow, whatever you buy, get them to show you the function changeover and make sure that the settings are retained as far as possible when changing over.
Regards
Scrit