Linear Tracking Turntables - Best??

Terminator/Salvation combo directly from the maker himself:

Trans-Fi Audio, UK

Foe the cost/performance equation:Kodo "the beat" and it's Schroder pivoted linear tracker is quite interesting...

I would only go air bearing. Love the ET 2, would also go mg1 or trans fi terminator. You don't have to spend a fortune and they don't require constant fussing . I think when people say that they are not very mechanically inclined. 

The problem with air-bearing arms is that the lateral mass is often a multiple of the vertical mass. So you can be tracking at the right weight for the cartridge, but the lateral mass can cause visible left-right motion in the cantilever. When this happens, the tracking error is significantly higher than that of a radial tracking arm!!

The solution is a cartridge with a lower compliance. This might not work out all the well when it comes to simple tracking, as the vertical component (mechanical resonance) might not be satisfied. 

I used to run a heavily modified Rabco arm many years ago that got around these problems- but then had other problems, most notably mechanical resonance in the track in which the arm ran. I do think linear tracking is the way to go, but have yet to see an embodiment that solves all the engineering problems.

My Trans-Fi arm can taken away from me only over my dead body.