The advantage of being able to re-fit the points in a hot Y-block's distributor is usually lost on someone about midnight while their wife holds the flashlight.
Electronic parts have an extremely unpredictable lifetime - particularly when exposed to a lot of heat cycles under the hood. I'm not too thrilled with the idea myself, can't speak for others........but the re-fit option is only there for desperation use if you ask me.
The "points replacer" versions of these devices are just that - they use the same sort of coil and the same sort of dwell as you can get with the points. That results in the same sort of spark energy - and that equals original performance. Many of them don't have enough switching capacity to equal an old fashioned "dual point" (extended dwell) distributor with a "hot coil" - it would burn up the grounding transistor.
Charlie may jump in here - but I went to the Ford Duraspark II type unit for simple reasons - it has a very basic trigger unit in the distributor that has a pretty damn good reliability record (the one in my T-bird did 150,000 miles in an F-150 to break it in). The switching unit that charges and fires the coil is located separately - doesn't have a perfect reliability record - but it can be changed without burning your fingers in a matter of minutes. And better yet, the controller units can be Ford, GM, Chrysler, MSD - whatever level of performance you desire. I like that - and if you use something common from the parts stores - you can replace your spare by shopping at the auto parts store around the corner. I use a GM type HEI controller because the chip has a more up-to-date variable dwell operating scheme - but a Ford style unit could plug in and take me home just as well.
Steve Metzger Tucson, Arizona