Isn't ACARS rather expensive? When I want to know if the weather ahead is suitable, volmet is the easiest method. Especially if you have two VHF boxes and can remember a frequency or two.
GPS and airspace alerting is a completely separate bit of kit and has nothing to do with ACARS. I don't think the same operational policy can be applied either. A good tool for backing up your VFR navigation is a GPS. A good back-up for a GPS, is a second GPS. The same rule certainly doesn't apply to ACARS.
It strikes me you'll end up wasting lots of money on gadgets. Which is something I approve of!
