Thanks that was the way I was leaning too so confirms my thinking. Prefer quality over quantity, especially if I have to end up replacing them anyway down the track!
My first Mega Tree was built using the 5v pixels you mention, I did have a couple of failures but it got through 2018 & 19
Great to toe the water with but once you see the diff with 18awg there's no going back, Glad I only bought 800.
Still they are good for a learning curve