Air or Porch

We have a bradcott 390 modus air awning and we would not go back to pole type awnings. It's up in minutes. And is  very stable in all weathers. No chance if damage to the van by poles. No more arguing about what pole hoes where either. 

They are a bit heavier than the normal canvas but if u add in weight of poles I doubt there is much difference. 

I and our dogs don't like guy ropes. Most of the time they are not needed on our Isabella porch awning. I find the hardest work is hammering all the pegs in

I agree about the pegs which is why I use a drill and steel screw pegs.

I have solved my own problem by the simple fact that Isabella are selling their Transit model which they discontinued a year or two ago.  It is the ideal solution for people like us who now find heavy canvas difficult to manage.  It is modular and comes in three parts: a roof, side pieces and front.  The beauty of it is that, in our case, we will use it mostly as a canopy and will only add the sides and from for our infrequent UK trips with poor weather.  

Another huge plus is that when it was on sale some years back it cost around £900, yesterday I bought it for £399.  Well done Isabella!

Yes, you are right this subject has been done to death before.  Suppose it's a matter of choice.  Suggest you visit a dealer and have a good look at a variety of awnings.  I meet your spec for comment  and have a Kampa non air awning mainly because it is a little lighter than the air version.  We get it up quite easily with  OH feeding into the rail and me pulling it through OH is then free to sort out chairs etc whilst I put poles in,  peg out then have a glass of wine

We have the Bradcot aspire air 260 witch was a replacement for our 15 year old Bradcot porch.We our in our 70s with dodgy  joints and although the air is a little heavier we use a small set of steps that help me to pull it along the awning rail. I find it easier to put up than the pole version with less stretching on the arms.

We solved by finding an Isabella Transit brand new.  Isabella no longer make them Broadlane are selling them off for less than half price.  It suits us perfectly as it is modular.  Most of the time we will just use the sun canopy but having the sides and front for poor weather will be great.  We look forward to trying it out in May.