sighting downrange

Ok, so here is a random question for the surprisingly increasing number of people who read my weblog (but annoyingly do not leave comments… argh!): Are any of you familiar with Ultra Dot West rifle scopes? I ask this for a variety of reasons…
First, I am relatively interested in acquiring a 1x scope for my rifle. Yes, I know, iron sights have worked for hundreds of years, and some people just swear by them. Having shot with both, however, I would very much prefer the no-argument cross/dot-on-target versus the age old “just where exactly should I place the target on my front post” question, especially considering the rear aperature on my M1A SOCOM II’s sights… I swear, you could toss a reasonably-sized cat through it. Also, I like the idea of being able to shoot with both eyes open, and while I have tried it with iron sights, it just does not seem to work for me. That whole “keep the front post in focus” thing, when using both eyes, does strange things for me.
Second, I like “red dot” scopes. Now, this term has been broadened to mean both holographic and pure-bred “red-dot” styles (at least in most venues, unless you argue with the really hardcore types, and they will take you to task for that kind of indeterminate langauge usage), and, in this case, I do mean both. Having made the mistake of picking up an AR-15 with an EOTech on top of it at a gun show in FL, I immediately fell in love with the sight picture. Of course, the salesperson had to admonish me to keep both eyes open (bad habits), but once that hurdle was overcome, the problem was even worse. Add to that potential low-light use, and there you go.
Third, that dorsal rail on the SOCOM is just begging for… something. Sure, just about anything could go there, but some high-power scope would be wasted on me, and potentially wasted on the rifle due to its abbreviated barrel.
So why Ultra Dot West products? Well, to put it simply, cost is a factor. EOTech HUD units and Aimpoint sights are both gorgeous, both in terms of body styling and sight picture, but they also cost a bleeding fortune (over $350 for even the cheapest of variants). Of course, both are in use by the United States (and other countries’) military, so I guess that has to be a good sign of something… and “you get what you pay for” is an axiom that I believe in completely… But, especially after the M1A and its according ammunition, my checkbook can only take so much. Unfortunately, when you go down to the low end of electronic sights, the field just gets downright massive, and there are a rather large number of complete crap items.
Ultra Dot West, however, is a name that keeps cropping up, with comments like “these are good scopes” associated with them on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that is all of the information the posters and commenters are willing to put forward, and that is not a whole lot. Little things like durability, ease of finding replacement batteries, parallax error, build quality, ease of use… all those little things are missing. And since not many places carry the actual scopes, finding reviews is difficult.
So, y’all got any information?
If not there, the other name that keeps cropping up is Tasco… any of you all have any experiences there? These are actually a little cheaper than even the Ultra Dot units, and considering that I am not planning on taking either into a combat situation, as long as it holds up under normal shooting conditions, I would be just happy with that. Of course, if you all have any other product line suggestions, I would be more than open to them as well. I am leaning more towards a tubular design, as opposed to the HUD design provided by EOTechs, but that is entirely aesthetically based, and can therefore be discarded in light of better delineators. A standard battery (AAA, AA, 123 Lithiums) is preferred, but not required. And I really like the crosshair-plus-dot-in-the-middle sight picture of the EOTech, rather than the Plain Jane just-a-dot design. Oh, and, of course, Picatinny-compatible is a must.
So, yeah, I am greedily asking for help. However, if your comments are constructively useful, someone else may find them in the future, and be inspired by them as well. Now get to work!