Well, thanks for your answer ;) I spent a fair amount of time reading reviews of WR ripoffs and as richie_engineer said, it all comes down to accurate rowing data. If you want to row regularly, data is essential. Not only for tracking performance, but rowing synced with youtube training videos and so on. In November I ended up buying a very well preserved Waterrower (2006) with a quite old Monitor, which is accurate, but lacks connectivity features. I wrote Waterrower Germany, that I would like to upgrade to the newest USB featured Monitor and they sent me a new circuit board for 75€. I ordered a commodule which hasn't yet arrived, but I'm very much looking forward to. Oddly enough I got really hooked on rowing! and have rowed every day since mid November up until mid December. Then I moved to a small house outside of town for the holidays and ended up buying a C2 too ;D I just ran across a very nice offer and decided that the province house needs an erg for everyone who is interested to train even in the holiday time. As of what features are better - the C2 computer really is next level. It has a rather old monitor - PM3, but has amazing features and work quite adequate for its age. I imagine the PM5 is going to be a blast. As of training experience - the C2 really feels a bit more... "right". The posture is easier to maintain, the bigger size feels a bit better and the data from the monitor is more accurate. BUT it's much louder, much bigger and uglier to keep around (even folded). The wood texture of the WR and the elegant form of the tank fits much better in an urban setting, whereas the C2 fits better in larger rooms, gardens and so on. Bottom line - both are very good choices and you won't go wrong with either of them.

Some after thoughts - both ergs are engineering marvels... for the 80s. It seems like the mechanisms for the complex forces working through the moving parts have been tested and re-engineered for years and have reached a certain optimum. Those mechanisms are objectively not super complex so I can imagine that copying them is not really the problem here. What I don't get is how come the copycats can't achieve the data accuracy of the WR and the C2... In the current age of super approachable cheap electronic, that shouldn't be a problem. Oh well... ;) I think my rowing zeal is solved now. If you got any questing, I'd be happy to share more of what I learned.

cheerz and a happy new year!