We have one of the 12-ft automatic ones on our deck and love it! The remote sits inside and it's so convenient to use. Their advertising is dead-on with what they say about the temperature difference on a hot/sunny day and rain protection on gloomy days. We tell everyone to get one!
If you install it yourself you'll need some strong arms, it is heavy. But their instructions were very easy to navigate, it took about two hours for us if I'm remembering correctly.
It's been up for 5 or 6 years now and has only needed adjustment for raising an uneven arm once, this year, which was a snap. It is beginning to look a little dirty so will need cleaning soon but they give you a long-handled brush and solution so that shouldn't be difficult. We were just "inspecting" it the other day and realized that there are very slight tears along the edge of the flap that hangs over the arm, so we figure we'll get another year or two out of this one. But the company offers replacements for the material so we won't have to replace the entire unit.
The only negative - you have to make sure that you don't let rainwater pile up on top of it. For one thing it gets heavy, but more importantly it might surprise you with a dowsing! I use an old soft-bristled broom upside-down and gently lift the center of the awning so all the rainwater pours off the edges. An hour in the sun dries it completely.
The company itself I could rave about for days! We got the awning lights as a free bonus with the awning but use them in the gazebo. Last year while cleaning up I dropped and broke two of the globes. I called for replacements, fully intending to pay for them, but was told replacement parts are free and they sent me four globes "just in case." We also have one of their telescoping flagpoles and they've talked us through moving that and resetting the base twice now. I can't say enough good things about the customer service.
Do it - you won't regret it if your experience matches ours.
Susan