A) It appears to be the gun and accessories (upgrades of sorts), it does not include the hopper, CO2 tank, mask, etc. That is an additional cost of $40 minum to have their package added to the gun.

It's an A5, you don't need a separate hopper.

I know, I was reffering to the 200rd VL hopper he was asking about, I was saying that it doies not come with the gun.... I then later say it is not needed as the A-5 comes witht he cyclone and the VL would not work regardless.... perhaps I was unclear, but when taken in context with the rest of my post it is obvious.

B) Basically everything listed except for the SP- Progressive barrel is cosmetic and thereby completely worthless if you want something to perform well. The barrel itself is only a 25-35 dollar barrel depending on where you buy it from.

Debatable on whenether not the parts are cosmetic. Depends on how you play.

I consider stocks on most guns cosmetic, and sights on all markers cosmetic.

Now for your questions:

1) It is a much better begginer gun. If you are an intermediate player, I would suggest a number of other guns before even considered an A-5, or any tippmann marker.

Also debatable, an A5 works great for all levels of playing but there are better.

Well any gun can work on most levels of play, I am saying that there are better guns out there, which you seem to agree with. Since there are guns that perform better the fact that Tippmanns are "idiot proof" is 1 of the main reasons to get one, which is a much more important attribute for a begginer than other players... of course the question about the VL and the cyclone leads me to believe that the poster isa  begginer and not an intermediate/ experienced player as he stated.

2) The A-5 has a built on loader/ hopper and that is what comes with the marker. The 200 rd Viewloader would come with the additional package, and you would be unable to use it on the A-5, as the cyclone is installed onto the A-5 and prevents any other hopper/ loader from being utilized.

3) No, any barrel from 12-14 inches is fine regardless of where you are playing. Anything over 14 inches is worthless regardless of where you play (no increased accuracy, but increased air usage to get the paintball up to the needed velocity due to additional friction caused by the longer barrel). And anything less then 12 will suffer from decreased accuracy.

You can go less than 12" without decreased accuracy, I think it's about 8". You shouldn't have any problems with a 14", but if you play completely indoors, go with a 10-12.

4) The A-5 will be heavier than many new markers on the market (that are not expressely ridiculous, cosmetic oriented milsim guns). If you get an older marker used (older Angel, etc) it would be possible for the older marker to perform better than the A-5, but be heavier. Any gun can be balanced depending on how you position the CO2 tank.

If you are referring to the X7 when you say "expressely ridiculous, cosmetic oriented milsim guns", you should know that the stock X7 is lighter than the a5.

No... I am refering to the people who take their A-5's and 98's and add 400 dollars worth of cosmetic upgrades without ever improving performance, so thay have a gun with a red dot site, a scope, a laser site, a stock, ridiculous amount of rails, a large foregrip, and a grenade launcher... thusly making them well...ridiculous.

5)It is not any bigger or bulkier than the regaulr A-5 except for the ridiculous red dot site. All sites/ scopes in paintball are useless. Some people will attempt to make a valid argument for a red dot sight, but it all comes down to you do not need a red dot sight to hit something 100 ft away accurately. In addition taking any time to utilize said red dot site will expose your body for a longer period of time increasing the likely hood of getting hit. As for a scope that magnifies an image....you wear a mask...and everything happens at relatively close range...so therefore also stupid.

All debatable (except scope really)

If you disagree post your opinion and reasoning for him to see the positive side of using a sight.

6) I only suggest pouring lots of money into what would be considered an entry level gun if you can only afford small upgrades at a time, allowing you to play without renting (saves money), but are unable to buy a better marker at once. Otherwise it simply is not cost effective to many upgrades for an entry level marker, in the end its your decision.

7) It is stock semi-auto.

8)I have never noticed a big difference between single or double trigger on entry level blow back markers (spyders, tippmanns, etc). Unless you have an electronic marker, or a nice mechanical I dont see the big deal, since the trigger pull is hard enough to reduce your ROF rgardless of having a double trigger (by fanning the trigger), and for the same reason you will be unable to walk it.

true, not much difference with single/double on mech triggers.

9) I would buy another gun, or at least a stock A-5, then with the money I saved (about 80 dollars on the gun alone, not including the POS kit you need to buy to use the gun....CO2, mask etc.), then use the money saved to buy a nicer mask, a barrel for w/e gun you get and a 20 co2 tank or 72cu 3000 psi HPA tanl.