So, a technomancer with resonance 5 and a 4 in Compiling can quite easily create a sprite that's going to have a 10D pool for almost any computer action of choice. That is a heck of a lot cheaper/easier than creating a technomancer with high skills and Complex forms across the board.

So my guess my question is, am I missing something here, or can technomancers almost ignore the Cracking and Electronics skills and just do most everything with sprites?

Yes, you're missing something. Take hacking on the fly, for example.

A rating 5 Crack sprite with Hacking & Exploit CF & Stealth CF: rolls 10 dice, vs. node's firewall (5).

A rating 5 node running Analyze 5: rolls 10 dice, vs Sprite's Stealth (5).

So, about 1/2 the time, the sprite is going to trigger an alert. Bump that up to wanting an Admin passcode, and the TN goes from 5 to 11. The sprite has a really, really good chance of getting caught.

Now, switch that to a Technomancer, with Hacking (5) & Exploit CF (5) & Stealth CF (5). Use the same rating 5 sprite to assist operation to the TMs Stealth Complex form. Also use threading to increase Exploit from 5 to 8.

Now, the TM rolls Hacking (5) + Exploit ( = 13 vs. node's firewall (5).

The node is rolling 10 vs the TM's boosted Stealth (5 + sprite rating 5) = 10.

Bump it up to an Admin passcode, and the Techno's TN is now 11, where the node's TN is still 10. Much better than 11/5.

Do you see how the odds suddenly changed?

Sprites cannot thread complex forms, and so are stuck with them at their rating. Sprites also cannot use Assist Operations on themselves. TMs can do both, and these are IMO two strengths.

(With that being said, my own TM never does her own data searches. A lack of BP to invest in Data Search, plus the ability to easily compile rating 7 sprites, means she leaves data searches up to the sprites.)

For my Missions Technomancer I made a table showing my Sprites skills and their CF's and found that while I had sprites with a ton of CF's, they did not always have the corresponding skill to use that CF.

A Hacker or TM can have the perfect mix of CF's/programs and skills while Sprites have to be potentially showhorned in. For example, Fault Sprites have Cybercombat and fighting CF's but Paladin sprites must use an optional CF to be able to attack and another optional CF to get Analyze if they want to detect a stealthing opponent. Both can fight but the Fault sprite is WORLDS better. Optional CF's can instead be program options so the Paladin Sprite can fight while a Fault Sprite could have Psychotropic, Targeting and Area program options.

So yeah, you might can do everything you want with Sprites but not and do everything possible. The echo that allows additional Sprite species is very handy in shoring up a summoner-built TM.

there's also the fact that your technomancer has an unlimited number of services, and i think even above the hotsim bonus was not mentioned. and of course, then you throw in all the crazy stuff a TM can do with CFs (threading program options on the fly, for example) and the fact that not all CFs are even *available* to sprites, plus specialisations... you can get a technomancer's DP up to a point where it's just going to stomp more-or-less anything for a short period of time. you can't do that with a sprite (really, the above comparison was being nice... you start throwing a rating 5 sprite assisting operation + 5 skill + 2 specialisation + 2 hotsim + 3 threading you get 17 dice, which will blow away the rating 5 sprite's 10 dice any day of the week. throw in something like codeslinger, and the sprite just keeps falling behind...)

You can build a sprite-based TM. The "high CFs across the board" is a character optimisation thingy under the BP system. You want to use compiled sprites instead of programs, forfeiting on leftover services whenever you need a sprite with a different CF. So build for fading resistance. High CFs you´ll still want are Stealth, Analyse, Shield, Attack.

One way to do it: Dwarf Sourceror with Trauma Damper, Cerebral Booster, and Platelet Factories. Starting resonance can be as low as 3 (not for the faint of hearth); I would suggest a 4.

Else: What Jaid said. You loose out if you reduce a TM to sprites, even if you bring rating 9+ compiled ones (no, not with resonance 4). Each "normal" TM could show you a few tricks, like boosted stealth, followed by a boosted black hammer.