Haute Route questions

My wife and I will be completing the walker's Haute Route in Sept '14. I have Kev's book and was debating on purchasing the Swiss Topo maps, they are so expensive. Anyone have an opinion, are they worth the cost and the small amount of space/weight?

I am skeptical of the Europweg. While the views are supposed to be some of the best on the route, the danger of the trail (rockslides) and the detour concern me. Is it worth the time (we have it) or would it be better to skip and head into Zermatt?

I have a few days planned for Zermatt/weather delays. I wonder if it is worth it to stay, I have heard the town is beautiful as well as the view of the Matterhorn. But, I have also heard it is very "touristy" and we tend to shy away from places like that. The more nature, the less people, the better....

If you aren't leaving the well trodden trails maybe just scan and print the sketch maps from the CZ book enlarged to letter size. They aren't great but you can annotate them with data from maps you find along the way. Along with cribbed 'route descriptions' from the CZ they should be enough. Too much fluff in the book to carry it whole.
I found the Switzerlandmobility app very useful. Saved me some guess work. My Iphone screen was too small for comfort so I'm looking into a bigger smartphone or tablet for next time. Swisscom sells a prepaid sim - Natel Easy Smart - seemed like a good deal to me. Coverage is spotty so you need to be cautious about how far out on a limb you follow it.
Binoculars. Big help finding trails and markers. Seems like the trail wardens splash a lot of paint around on intrinsically clear trails but when you get into the woods …..

Great info, thanks! I will check out the app. Seems like the blaze issue is universal, way too many when you don't need them and not one to be seen when crossing a huge rock field or dense thicket....

I've been looking into 'caching' in Google Maps. It works. You could cache maps to cover your trek before leaving home or update through wifi daily. With or w/o wifi or cellular data your gps will locate you - most of the time.