Great article but I would have preferred to read about how it 'felt' in all axes, vs. watching videos of someone moving the controls and NOT saying boo about the action of each axis.
As for the $ amount, I'm always amused to read about sticker shock in this hobby. I have a 7 year old Cougar that I modded with Halls and a new gimbal system so it's a lot more expensive than the stock version, which 7 years ago, was 250 USD. I have spent WAY MORE than the predicted price of the Warthog in the last seven years on video cards, RAM, mobos, displays, TrackIR, the list goes on.
If this new HOTAS lasts as long as my Cougar has and does all the stuff it's supposed to then spending 400-odd bucks ONCE is a steal compared to the endless expense of upgrading other computer hardware components.
Good, Quick, Cheap.
Choose any two.