This is part of the reason I think it's not a simple question and actual experience with bots is part of the question.
2 Comparing the pint quality of your first generation Cupcake to MakerGear's finely tuned sales tool demo unit is pretty absurd.
Of course his first-generation Mosaic was "tuned", just like any production unit taken to a show by a company selling things. MakerBot, Stratasys, etc, would have also brought a tuned box for demos.
However, my "first generation Cupcake" was hardly that. It runs on a Mega, TOM/Gen4 electronics, beefed up replacement steppers from Lin, bigger power supply, and uses a Mk6 extruder with a custom temperature chart. About the only parts that are FG Cupcake are the case and the Z-plate and the fasteners.
This is why I asked on the reprap-dev list something like, "which one is easiest to hack/modify/test for a club or school?" The Cupcake was easy to assemble and turn on but modifying it has been a challenge for me some days given how many parts are stuffed into a tiny wooden box.
I'm willing to at least look at MakerGear's products and designs having seen the effort he puts into cranking out a good product. Personally I don't see much "hate" for him on the reprap-dev list and there are plenty of MakerGear parts on Thingiverse and the M2 has some promise. Sure, MakerGear is selling Reprap clones (and a bunch of other stuff), but it's in a very competitive market. If you look at the lists on reprap.org and on ebay he has lots of competition from everyone from grad students to "Chinese pirates" as some describe them.
-- J. Eric Townsend design: www.allartburns.org; hacking: www.flatline.net; HF: KG6ZVQ PGP: 0xD0D8C2E8 AC9B 0A23 C61A 1B4A 27C5 F799 A681 3C11 D0D8 C2E8
