Personally I am a big fan of the ARF concept. However not all ARF companies are alike. Some seem to care about the quality of the craftsman ship they put into their planes (such as the Aeroworks Edge 540T in my experience) and others just mass produce their plane to maximize their company profit (such as the Ultra Stick). I have built a few kits and like the fact that I was able to tweak what i think needed tweaking where you could not do that with and ARF, but those planes spent many months in the hangar (my basement) before they were airborne. All in all it really depends on the company that builds the plane.

-Matt