It all gets down to personal preference and how you feel on the day.
Yeh, comparing the late 90,s stuff to today's Sterns is probably not going to get any definitive results. Lol

A lot of the older machines have a lot more sentimental love than the brand new stuff does.
The bit about fixing machines, I rarely have to fix a machine cause 90 percent of my stuff was shopped properly but when u do have to fix something it is very time consuming. The brand new stuff is usually plug n play for years without breakdowns. This is more attractive to new buyers who haven't bought a pin before.
What worries me, is that if everyone Stern bashs all the time, are we scaring new blood, new buyers off from getting into the pinball hobby ?