Well ok, let's have another go round.

The home despot here in Canda charges 17$ a peiece for 8.25" X 12'
hardiplank primed, or 26$ a piece with colorplus.

The James Hardie representative pointed me to a lumber yard that I didn't
know about previously that sells it with the colorplus for $9.50 a piece.

That's a heck of a lot more competitive than the Despot.

He said installation (including materials at about 1.50/sqft) runs about
4.50 /sqft plus or minus a buck in each way.... so I'd like to know from
people who have installed this stuff before how much of a PITA it was.

I currently have Shiplap siding that's in tough shape.

Total is 2 big walls (9x25) and (9x30) then the addition which is primarily
windows (lots of little pieces of siding = lots of cuts).

Total around 700 square feet.

I wasn't planning on redoing the fascia board or soffit at this time.

Any thoughts on using the shears versus the hardiblades?

Also, has anyone used the colorplus product or does everyone simply use the
primed product then paint?

Thanks in advance,
Matt