In the early days, all you could really count on "DCC ready" meaning was that the motor was isolated from the frame. Things have gotten much better, and on anything new, this means that there will usually be a plug or socket for the decoder. It still pays to look though, especially of you hit the swap meets. There's lots of "old new" stock out there, like tons of Proto 2000 E units and such that have the old boards with no plug, and so on.
Just a couple of thoughts:
No big deal not doing DCC. Something like 60-70% of the hobby still does not.
Have to convert 100 engines? Well there's no rule that says you have to do them all at once, is there? I have the same problem, but I've found that of those 100 engines I actually run a dozen or so regularly. I started with the favorites and went as the wallet (& spouse
) permitted. Still not done!
The real tough one is sound! Those little stinkers are expensive!
You can also consider this: if you have anything with QSI sound in it, you need one of those QSI controllers to access all the functions available. They cost about 50% of the price of an entry level DCC system of you shop carefully.
Most modelers who stay with DC do so because it's what they're comfortable with. I have several friends who have completed layouts that run well, & they just plain don't want to be bothered. I can understand their reasons. Some are bothered by the technology. Some say the cost is too high. These same guys usually have a bunch of engines though, and you can get a starter system and a fist full of non sound decoders for the price of an A-B set of F units (sound) or an ABBA set non sound.
It's a personal choice, but the hobby is headed that way, and with all the new stuff hitting the market, it looks to me like modelers are going to need DCC to get their money's worth out of the latest generation of sound equipped RTR models. I've done that "flip the direction switch on the power pack to blow the horn" thing. What a pain!
Cheers!