It really is "6 of one, half dozen of another".

You are always going to have 2 types of people...ones that like building and tinkering, and then ones that like it already done and just want to take it out of the box and go fly.  Unfortunately with the "non toy" helicopters...there really isnt much of a "RTF" offering out there...unless you count some of the Blade helis (and even then I would probably only class their 450 heli in with anything else we are talking about here).

I feel that if people shy away from the clones, that will take some people totally out of the picture of getting into this fine hobby simply because they cant afford it.

But, if they do their homework and buy a clone kit...such as the EXI or even Copter X, they could get themselves a very decent heli for a nice price.  Like I already said...Ive built both my 450 and 500 for less than the cost of a single 500 Align.

Id had bought an Align if I had the money to lose in the beginning.  I knew helicopters were expensive to buy.  And also knew that helicopters werent "easy to fly" to someone brand new.  So, it was hard for me looking at the price of an Align helicopter and all of the stuff to make it go.  Then I found the clones and found that the most "raving" about them came from the EXI camp.  So I bought one.

Anyway...now that I somewhat know how to fly and not afraid of killing an Align, I still probably would go with my frankenclone EXI/Align bird just because I still can save money to spend elsewhere in the hobby.

Not all people have the same outlook as me or try to stay within a certain budget in this hobby...and thats fine too.  But my point was, and still is...that clones can be just as good as the original.  If you shop wisely and do your homework.