Quality is pretty darn good in my case. 300+ hrs with only minor adjustments, had to redo the wire powering the extruder, but it was an easy fix as it's exposed in the open.

Yes, their filament is a bit pricey, I can't really comment on quality, as I have only used their ABS. You can flash the chips to accept other filaments though. Just make sure your machine and software are firewalled from the internet so it can't connect to the mothership. If it reports unauthorized filaments, they can remotely brick your machine.

Yes, it's the same scam as paper printers run. There was a 2-3 year period a while ago where I'd go buy a decent $50 printer that only had starter ink in it. When the ink ran out, I'd go buy another printer, it was cheaper than the $60 for a cartridge, and then sell the used printer for $20.