I pretty much agree w/ the OP. I got one from Performance, and I found that it held the bike much less stably than a simple $10 metal stand from my lbs. The "feet" are just too close together to trust it. I returned it to Performance w/o problems, and I haven't missed it.

I used to have a very simple metal stand that held the bike by the bottom bracket and headstay (similarly to the Topeak), weighed next to nothing, and had no moving parts. Its feet were about twice as far apart as the Topeak's, and it held the bike stable. So it's the implementation that's faulty, not the principle.