I think the combination of navigation, structured workouts, battery life, touch screen, lack of kludge in general (special cases, special batteries, etc), color in the screen, and the bugs in the Element, all together, put it in a different class.

You don't value several of these features so it's natural that you'd feel differently. It's a matter of opinion, so there's plenty of room for everybody.

I'd strongly recommend buying whatever you get at REI or LLBean or Backcountry.com or anywhere else with a generous return policy. No matter what cyclocomputer you get, there are people who hate it, you might be one of them. Keep your options open.