I'm not a fan of the Encore rifles personally, but if someone wants one they could do a lot worse.
I've had a few 280's over the years and it is a good round. I no longer own one and don't plan on ever going down that road again. It looks good on paper, but you need to handload to really take advantage of it's capabilities. You buy a 280 because you want a rifle in the 270-30-06 class that is different from what the masses are hunting with, not to gain any real advantge over either round. As long as you understand that you won't be disappointed. With the best bullets and loads a 270, 280, and 30-06 offer near idenical trajectories and performance on game. Of the 3 the 270 looks like the better round if you look at factory ammo ballistics, but both 280 and 30-06 are capable of much more with handloads.
If you want to use a rifle and chambering a little different, without giving up any performance then it is a good choice.