What's needed for complete setup?

[LeeWay]

I was wondering what is needed for a complete Gecko setup. I noticed in the manual that other things are needed. What might these be? Where might I locate them?
The problem- I was testing the motors last night and we neglected to cap all the center wires from my motors. My contoller was a Xylotex 3 axis drive.
One of the motor wires shorted out on my controller case and smoked the Xylotex. Anyway, a fuse may have prevented this mishap, but the manual says not to put fuses on the system.
At any rate, I understand that I can get this board repaired possibly.
I am wondering if it might be btter to go with a Gecko system, but need to know what a system involves cost wise.
My motors are 2.8 amp at bipolar, which is a little too high for the Xylo. Should I spend my money on a second Xylo as a backup or go with Gecko? Help me choose please.

[ger21]

This might not help with your decision, but the Gecko most likely would have smoked as well.

You'll need three Geckos, preferably a breakout board and most likely a new power supply. If your going to get Geckos, use a higher voltage supply to take better advantage of them. Without a higher voltage supply, the performance increase would be very small.