I also like red dot sights.
I have a few different brands, with Holosun (circle-dot) being my favorite. Hows 50,000 hour run time for you. Second favorite would be the Leupold with the triangular dot. I really like that with the point up. I think the run time on that is "only" about 20,000 hours..! Both have lifetime guarantees.
I've only tried a couple of cheaper red dot sights. Seems that they have too bright a dot, even at the lowest setting for my shooting. My indoor range is a little darker than most, so a bright dot obscures the target. The two cheaper ones, are sitting on a shelf.
My thought is that a quality gun deserves a quality sight. But I also understand bank account sizes..!
Mike
P.s. - Sightmark has various, reasonably good red dot sights for more affordable prices. Also longer run times (up to 4000 hours for various models) with good (limited lifetime) guarantees.