can anyone give feedback/comparison to the Computrainer(racermate) against the Tacx device?
The tacx has more entertainment options.
Tacx supports online racing in two ways, tacx multiplayer and the third party netathlon software.
Computrainer only has online racing via netathlon. The difference is that on tacx I can create my own course and race it. For example, a local triathlon you can make a course that has the same profile and ride with friends. On netathlon you have a dozen or so different courses to ride and race on.
Tacx has more real life videos available although computrainer has more triathlon course real life videos available.
On accuracy computrainer gets a big win, a good reputation of having good accuracy. On Tacx it is hit or miss, different control units have different accuracy. It is adjustable but you need a powertap to do that.
For service, computrainer is a big winner as well. Tacx service consists of a forum where tacx users help each other out. The tacxs service is very very poor.
For me it came down to the fact that I was going to get a couple of them and ride with friends and maybe some of them would buy one too and we could all ride together online. In this case, it is easier to handle the $800 i-magic price for a couple of units and then to convince others to get one than it is to swallow the $1600 cost. If it was just for my own use i would have gotten the computrainer.
If you decide tacx is the way to go, I recommend the i-magic as the trouble free options. There have been lots of complaints about the fortius for four or five years now and they just released an update last month that addresses some of the issues. I would not be buying a tacx fortius right now until I am confident that the changes are effective.
It all depends if you want to train serious vs. have some fun.
Computrainer lets you use ErgVideo whereas Tacs does not. Computrainer is very well built. Much more versatile with many programming options that Tacs does not have.