I just got the chance to start re-programming my Optic after it's second trip to Poway in the 3 months I've owned it. Everything is working fine except for the fact that the blue LED on the front does not come on when I power it up.

Frankly I, like others, thought the LED was too bright anyway. I sometimes like to fly w/ FMS in a darkened room at night and the LED was kind of annoying. For that reason, I can live with it. At another level, it bothers me. While I'm thrilled about how promptly Hitec has fixed this thing (both times!) I'm starting to question quality control processes at Hitec.

I've spent about $1200 on Hitec gear in the past 2 years. I really think that Hitec offers the best bang for buck out there, but if quality issues are going to keep me grounded, I'll have to start looking at alternatives. I don't think I'll be sending it back to Poway to fix this. I don't want to lose any more flying time waiting for a fix on something that I really don't care about anyway. However, if I have one more problem with this TX, I'm gonna find it real hard to spend any more of my hard earned cash on Hitec products.

Am I being unreasonable?

I don't think necessarily so. But a couple of things... my Dad always said "Never buy the first model year of a car!". Too many bugs. Maybe the same is true for TXes? Also, look at the price you paid and what kind of market these devices are in? I recall way back that you'd have to pay a couple hundred for an old Kraft box with 1/20 of the features of the Optic. Lastly, don't throw the baby out with the bath water - Hitec makes excellent products in general. I'v not had any RC product line without some sort of issue. Comes with the terriritory methinks.

That all said, if it craps out again, ask Hitec to replace it under the "lemon law".