You raise some good points. I'd like to, maybe, switch to a level 2 count later. But, I'm not quite fast enough at the counting to pursue it yet. I can handle the RC fine, but I still need to practice more with the other stuff before I'll be good enough to concentrate on playing and yet act casual at the same time. It feels like I'm almost at the top of the hill on the learning curve. I'm almost there; I just need to get more hours of practice in before it starts to become 2nd nature.
I think the reason that I've gotten into learning more indices is because it's relatively easy (or just faster) for me to memorize the rules. Then, once I have them fixed in my memory, I can use them without concentrating too much with a bunch of distractions around me. That is something to keep in mind though; I might just stick with the I18+F4 in case I switch to an L2 count later, in case the index #'s change much. I was actually thinking about switching at one time, but I was just starting to learn everything and I didn't want to take on too much at one time.
I've also been thinking a lot more about getting CV lately. From what I read, it can save quite a bit of time when coming up with stats. I think I still have a little bit of a skeptic left in me. I haven't played many live games yet; just enough to guage how my progress is coming along (ease of play, comfortability, etc.). And when I first started learning, I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to start spending money on the learning unless the hobby supported itself. Now, I'm sure that it can support itself, I just have to become fast enough at it to make it work. In other words, I'm all that's holding up the process now. I'm going to look into the CV and/or CVData prog a little more. I'm not going to forget about blackjack anytime soon, so I could afford to spend a relatively small amount on a time saver.
That really puts things into perspective - that just a half deck more penetration (6.5/8 vs 6/8) is as good or more than learning a bunch of extra index plays. I think I will just stick with the I18+F4 for now. If I learn any extra ones, they'll be surrender plays that cut losses.