It's good to se a few reviews like this because when someone I considering one of these mounts it's always a question of which one?
I can only comment on the Polarie but a couple of things spring to mind from my experience.
Firstly the battery life, now depending on brand and quality of the double A's I tend to get anywhere between 4-6 hours use out of them.
Admittedly I'm not loading the unit to it's limit weight but still for most people using a standard dslr camera and lens it's better than reported in the manual.
Also I feel the weight limit is a bit understated in the manual but then not a huge amount.
Polar alignment for me in the North is quite easy although you do need to illuminate the polar scope. The only down side is you need to remove the camera to place the Polarscope.
This has been addressed by Lacerta who have made an OAH for a EQ5 PS. I can link to that if you like.
Also rumours Vixen are looking into that too.
I find the sight hole useful too but then again I can see that it's of little use in the South.
Also I use a tripod with 3D pan head which was around $120 that the Polarie sits on and $60 ball head for use between the camera and Polarie and I haven't run into a situation yet where I need anything else.
Like you say there are many ways to go about it and I definitely understand the limitations with alignment for Southern hemisphere use.
What I would buy for it is the tiltometer as I can see that of being useful when needed.
I wouldn't get the Lacerta OAH simply because I'm already invested in the Vixen polar scope.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...d.php?t=106276