RE: Is there anything out there better than what I have?
well on the batteries, you basically said what the difference is chemically =P The main name that the manganese packs go by are the a123. The can discharge at something like 35C and can charge pretty quick too, like 15 min or less for a full charge. They have a bit of a different voltage, and right now they are basically only available through dewalt drills as far as I know, and basically you take apart the pack and make your own out of it and they come in 2300mAh cells.
About the balancer, yes it is worth having a balancer. Actually it's a good bit of a risk not having a balancer. If you know what you are doing though you can add a balance tap to most lipos that don't have them.
Tp or thunder power battery packs are usually considered to be in the top perfoming packs, especially for the weight.