Well anyhow I'll look to the advice and guidance of the more moderately tempered folks here...I think alot of people here would have considered buying a pre-made if they had existed three years ago, but they didn't, so you had to make your own.
I can understand if SlikStik was a ripoff junk product pretending to be the answer, but from what I see they make a quality product. So.......again.....the problem is....what?
ps: If a title of a post "pisses you off", you need to seek some help. All I asked originally was wether or not I really needed to get the trackball on the stupid thing. 
FWIW, this forum is one of the more restrained ones out there and everyone has previously stuck to the issues and not let personalities and temperments get in the way.
HeadRusch, this post isn't a slam at you as I have said before, if a slikstik does what you want it to, then buy one and have fun with it.
Howard, I really wasn't slamming you either, I respect your opinions on hardware issues. I think you are taking this "what is an acceptable modification, noob, lamer, wannabe" thing WAAAAY too seriously, and if you were going to flame other peoples ideas, I think you can expect some heat thrown back your way.
Hopefully, I fall into the moderately tempered category on this board. I have no problem with anyone buying a CP instead of building it if the commercial solution does what they need it to.
I think SlikStik makes a quality product, but I think they are over-priced, even compared to the competition.
This will probably make both sides of the argument upset and that is definitely not my intent,

, but I think this info might be helpful.
Here is something I wrote for the FAQ section of my upcoming (sometime) arcade controller page (note I picked the LEAST EXPENSIVE Slikstik for the comparision):
Speaking of commercial versions, can't I build my own stuff cheaper than I can buy a commercial controller?This is a frequent topic of debate on BYOAC.