Hi Dave,
Sorry to hear that you're having problems.....sounds frustrating.
I've never tried to link up 2 boards together, so I'll defer to your opinion on that, but as I've already mentioned, I've had many hours of recording (26 channels at a time, 1 hour of Soundcheck and 2 hours of show), and never had a drop out. I used 2 different consoles (1 in L.A. and 1 in Europe), and the PCAudioLabs Rok Box to record. I would record straight to the computer's hard drive and then dump to an independent hard drive after the show.
I didn't have any problems with faders growing quirky and I actually like the rubber buttons.....but I guess that's a "taste" thing.
If you've just had enough with trying to get the StudioLive to work and you are fine with just using the SL as the "community talent show rig", then I guess that's that.....but perhaps you may want to consider getting the folks at PreSonus on the phone and figuring out what your recording issue is, because I had nothing but success with it.