It's seems to me that I am stealing this topic from the original poster, but I think that I have seen and read enough to be able to reason out an answer to the "Original" question that I was looking for.
The "WEF" / "WAF" ends up being the most important final selection criteria for a security system.
This is not logical and the "True Security" of the system really has nothing to do with the how much "Feeling Security" the system provides. Of course this doesn't apply to business or to enforcement / Physical response, but for the normal homeowner, it really seems to be the determining factor.
What the Wife needs to be taught about security or what she would consider good security may have nothing to do with what physical security really exists. (I'm not putting down the female side of humanity in any way, the roles can be reversed in many cases.)
So, to answer myself, and to see if there is any major disagreement, the best system for the average homeowner will always be the one that gives the most comfort to the users, no matter how well it works. If this is true, and I now believe it to be, then X-10 systems can solidly compete with ANY home system out there. Problems, difficulties or bugs aside, it can and does work well enough to give people real comfort, which is what it's all about. If, like the original poster, the difficulties encountered cause the comfort level with the system to drop, then X-10 is not for you. Hardware and Software glitches aside.
After all of this, and all the great input, I'll stick with X-10 for as long as it makes me Comfy, which could be a long time....
Now if I can only get the WAF into positive numbers, the world will be a great place..