Stuart,
I've seen the 1200 fly many times, flies great. I'm finishing up a 2300, hopefully I'll be ready to fly by the end of the month. I'm with you on the looks, it's different than all the 'roo clones out there plus it's relatively cheap: no retracts, can cover it with Monokote, etc, and easy to build. The guys at GNM are great to deal with, I bought my SIMJET 2300 from them.
I'd say "go for it!"
Regards,
Jon