I have a smart strings unit and it takes about 3/4 of an hour to set it up properly when I am using scales, leveling stands and a laser level. That being said, I cannot see how you can do a proper alignment without at least that much equipment. The Fastrax unit (and I would get 2 of them) would be great for a touchup or quick adjustment at the track, but you cannot easily establish the center of the car without strings, and so cannot get a proper 4 wheel alignment. Also, using any kind of level camber gauge, you must make sure that car is actually level. I do see how the Fastrax compensates for that.

I find it amusing when I see people obsess about 1/4 of a degree camber, or 2~3 minutes of toe-in, and then use the crudest methods to do their own alignment.

 

I recently used a carpenter's angle (basically a 3 foot ruler with a 2 foot right angle) to do a "good enough" alignment after installing camber plates. I basically created a right triangle and used trigonometry to calculate camber. I was shooting for -3 degrees on either side, and when I got around to getting a professional alignment, I found that I had achieved 3.0 and 2.8. Not bad. One weakness in this method is that it is, at best, a two-wheel alignment.