Mellotronists

Hi all, I need some help. 

I am a student Musictechnology at a University in Holland (HKU, 
faculty Art, Media and Technology). I am writing my thesis about the 
mellotron and it's productional and compositional use in music.
I have a few questions and I hope that you could take some time to 
awnser them. 

-Which trons do you use and which sounds?

-Could you please describe why the sound is so special to you? 

-Is there something fundamental in certain passages or styles of 
music that asks for a mellotron?

-Why do you choose a real mellotron, instead of samples?

-I think people today use analog synths different than in the old 
days. Nowadays they, for instance, just push one note and then freak-
out on the controllers, instead of making a nice sound and 
performing a melodic line (please correct me if I'm wrong in this).
Do you think that current use of a mellotron diverses from that of 
the past in a same way as it is with analog synths?

-Is there much tron activity outside the '60 (brit)pop or 'prog' 
realm that you know of? Could you give some examples please (ie like 
Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Jon Brion)?

Finally, I am looking for Dutch tron users. Do any of you know about 
any Dutch folks possesing a mellotron?

Thank you very much for your help.