water softener mechanical vs digital meter?

I am looking for some advise on a water softener. I have a price quote for
two water softener models. One has a mechanical meter with a $700 cost and the other has a digital meter which costs $800. Both are very efficient, but the digital meter is even a bit more efficient. I am told that with two of us in the househould, it would take between 5 - 10 years to pay off the $100 difference. I would get the digitala version except that I am told that if it ever stopped working, it would cost around $150 to replace. Mechanical meters are considerably cheaper to fix if they stop working. So my question is how reliable have digital meters traditionally been? I am trying to acertain whether the digial meters is worth the extra mone or staying with the tried and true mechancal meters is simple and safe.
Tim

What brand of softener is it?

Generally the digital / demand are best even for the additional $100.00.

Gary S. will be in here and lets see what he has to say.

You must be looking at a softener using a Fleck control valve.

Mechanical or electronic metering has absouletly nothing to do with the efficiency of a softener.

Efficiency comes in two types, salt and water use. Both are dictated by the cuft volume and type of resin in the softener. It doesn't matter what brand, model or type of control valve is used; day timer, electronic or mechanical metered.

To leran more about that, check out the sizing info here:
http://www.qualitywaterassociates.com/softeners/sizingchart.htm

BTW, you'd get a better control valve with a Clack WS-1. It has features few Fleck valves have and lower priced parts and it does not require any special tools to rebuild as all but one of the Fleck valves do. And anyone with a pair of pliers can rebuild the Clack WS-1 in less than 30 minutes.