I prefer individual timers for lighting and plan to use more of the in wall type in the future. Found a couple in the clearance bin at HD a few weeks ago at a really good price. Less than $40 for a two pack. Mind you, they are rated for 600W max each, so this is something you need to keep an eye on when purchasing timers. You would definitely need more than one of those to run 3x250 MH set up safely. They are also available in 1500W flavour, but more costly of course and I didn't see any of those in the clearance bin....
Controllers are great, but there can be an advantage to wiring up several individual timers, that being redundancy. If I'm not mistaken most controllers plug into a standard wall outlet. If that circuit happens to trip, all the goodies on that lone controller cease functioning. With several individual timers, you have the option of wiring them to separate circuits so one circuit tripping doesn't take out most of your gear. This is especially true these days with most of our stuff on GFCI devices which are a little more prone to nuisance trips than your standard circuit breaker.
Of course if you experience a complete power outage, you need to be prepared with back up power.
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