Garage Door Openers - ATA or Merlin & Chain or Belt?

Hi.

Getting a new house built and have two single panel lift doors on the Garage. Choosing the actual doors was easy but we now have the choice between ATA or Merlin openers in either chain or belt drive. I've had ATA openers in previous properties and they've been perfectly fine (allbeit a bit old fashioned & daggy) so I'm not sure what the Merlins are like so does anyone have any opinions of either/both? How do each compare with remore control distances too, does one have better range than the other?

I can also choose between chain or belt drive and as there's hardly any cost difference (only about $100) I'm not sure which way to go here either. I assume I can compare the drive systems to an engines timing system ie. a timing chain may be a little noisy but is very strong and needs very little maintenance vs a timing belt which is super quiet but will require replacing over time? Could the belt drive just be a way for the opener manufacturers to get more money out of us while convincing us that it's superior to the chain drive? How much is a belt anyway and how often would I have to replace it?

Any assitance would be appreciated, thanks.


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