We are not talking about whether you NEED a $200 mod or not to quit the stinkies. I'd say most people don't. Some of us are performance nuts and we want the best performance and quality. In a mechanical mod, not only do you want long lasting quality, but you want highly conductive contacts to reduce voltage drop. While it differs among clones and who makes them as some clones are pretty close to the authentic ones, a mod that drops 0.5V on a 0.6-0.7 ohm coil is out of my sight. Such high voltage drop also means reduced battery life. Mind you there's $100+ mechs that have high voltage drops too, not only clones. If I remember correctly the Hcigar clone of the Nemesis has the same voltage drop of the original one, or so I've heard. Ideally we could all build ourselves a cheap tube with stellar contacts and have a mod that hits like any $200+.
There's many things that come into play when buying a mod. Looks, versatility, durability, build quality, price (budget here), availability, customer service, size, voltage drop/VV/VW, weight. Whatever keeps you off the stinkies. However the argument of "they are mad because my $20 clone is just as good as their $200" could be reversed to the other side by saying "they are trying to justify and praise their cheap $20 clone because they can't afford the authentic". I treat a clone like a mod on its own, and I review it by the standards I review any other mod. If it happens to be really good, I'll keep it, be it a clone or not.