Trenitalia in HO: New Lima Expert E464 HL2660 E464.134 vs Riva E444R InterCity Sun Express

Lima Expert has recently started issuing models again. Previously, they produced a wonderful E636, a very good value ETR610 and some fantastic Gran Confort second series coaches. There was some complaining recently that it re-released an updated version of the Lima / Rivarossi D445. This is quite an old model and has some inaccuracies (e.g. height) and some also felt it was over-priced. Personally, I wasn't bothered, as it a very sound model, and there is otherwise no way of getting a XMPR livered series 3 loco- in fact, there has never been a model in the most recent livery. The other factor is that Lima Expert have now introduced a brand new E464 model, and are selling it for under £140 (and 158 Euros in mainland Europe) in the UK. They could easily take the price in the direction of £200. For this price, it definately cannot be sneezed at. I don't own an ACME E464, but I do have three Vi-Trains locos. Two older models in XMPR and DTR and one more recent in InterCity Sun. These look great, but the two older models have slightly "waggly" wheels, and I do not find that their mechanisms are strong (they have a low top speed- possibly slower than scale) and the DTR overheats. The InterCity Sun model is much more reliable and I think ViTrains have recently made technical improvements. Also, you have hundreds of additional parts to install, which some people will love, but may drive others insane!
The Lima model seems very sound to me. It is heavier than the Vitrains loco. The pantagraphs are the standard Rivarorossi units provided on the most recent E444, E402a and E656 models. It comes with all parts installed- there is not even a sachet of additional parts. The bogies are highly detailed (much more so than the Vitrains)- parts like the railings and the whistle seem finer, and the below buffer jumper connectors are much more accurate. The suspesion damper fixings on the body are much more thickly moulded- I'm not sure if this is correct, or whether this is just for strength. Performance wise, it runs much faster than the Vitrains- you couldn't run the two together in "top and tail" formation. It can acheive speeds well above its scale maximum. It has some inertia, so if you take the power off, it will roll on a bit. On mine, the loco was pulsing slightly at low speed, but it is barely run in. I have not run it on Digital, as I do not have this.
The shade of XMPR green is blue tinged and lighter than you would expect, but it is within the range of shades you will see in real life (once the sun has faded the paint a bit!). I would have liked to see a switch to turn the lights off in the rear cab (which are rarely used, but on in analogue), but these can be controlled in digital, but for the price, that is being picky. Also the lights are a little bit bright.
I would say if you like E464s, grab them before Lima change their mind about the price- they are cheaper than the dummy Vitrains loco. If they make a model in Freccibianca colours at this price, you could buy two for less than a Vitrains loco and dummy! Lima Expert have definately done a great job on this model, though I suspect many will want to stick with Vitrains (especially the new version) due to the modelistic presentation.
As for the trains in this video, the E464 is hauling a short regional (as seen on the Adriatic coast) similar to this    • STAZIONE di SCERNE DI PINETO: Treni d...  
Maybe it is heading to Pescara. My rake is 3x Lima MDVE coaches, and a Vitrains MDVC pilota- they have been adjusted so that they run at appoximately the same height.

The E444 is hauling a long rake of coaches I have repainted in InterCity Sun colours. It is based on this rake:    • Treni straordinari e particolari tra ...  
Not many people will be recreate this rake, as it involves an unrefitted UIC-Z corridor coach (1st class), a Eurofima and a BH. However, I have repainted all of these. The full rake is: Roco 1st series Gran Confort; Lima 1st class UIC-Z; Roco "fake BH" (converted from DB Bpmz); Lima UIC-Z; UIC-Z (ex-A); Roco Eurofima; Lima UIC-Z (Frecciabianca roof); UIC-Z.