I hear ya, Husker.
By the way...
In the price range, you may want to take a hard look at the Meopta K-Dot or the Trijicon Accupoint.
The guys in the optics forum on AR15.com LOVE them both.
They seem to have a stand-up warranty as well.
You'll be out the same money on one of those. Downside is that it has no BDC. Upside is that they say it is "80% of the Schmitt & Bender Short Dot for 1/4 the price."
You may also want to take a look at the Trijicon Accupoint. I've looked at them. I only held off because I would rather something other than trititum powered on a $500 optic. I'm one of those few people that WOULD keep it until the tritium burns out (like on my Glock 19).
Both the Meopta K-Dot and the Trijicon Accupoint have amazingly clear and bright lens and are backed well by their companies.
The Meopta K-Dot stands out in that it is practically a "true" 1X at its lowest power. Its specs are 1-4x22mm. It uses batteries and has roughly 100 hours of battery life (standard on these-- my Mark 4 has the same). It has a single red-dot in the center of crosshairs.
The Trijicon Accupoint is a 1.25-4X24mm. This optic uses tritium as a powersource-- which will have about a 15 year half-life (meaning it will be half as bright in 15 years.) That's not too bad. The recticle is a red or orange triangle on a post. The Red has been a favorite over the orange. Criticism of the Accupoint recicle is that it has no BDC for holdovers. However, Trijicon is about to release a BDC version of the Accupoint.
The other option that I mentioned is the Leupold Mark 4 1.5-5x22. I like these, and they have a SPR recticle that I like. The main criticisms of these fall in two areas:
A: The 1.5 low-end is higher than some want for a 1ish-4-ish power optic.
B: The knobs are not lockable or covered which leads to the possibility of getting them knocked off zero. Not a big deal if you think to look at them before shooting. At the same time, M1 or M3 turrents are probably not needed on a 1.5-5X22 optic.
Of the above, I am more inclined to get the Leupold Mark 4 1.5-5x22mm if I replace my Millet DMS-1 anytime soon. After an issue that I had with my Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm, I have complete confidence in the company.
-- John