I'm pretty happy with mine - I keep it on my desk and quite often check which radio station is playing, what the time is, and so on... I can't even see the front panels of the actual BS6500 from where I sit most of the time so it's quite useful, even though I have a BL7000 as well, which mostly sits as a display item.
I shelled out more than 100 euros for my white MCP6500 some 1½ years ago, but after I got one of the apparently last sets of new hinges (sorry...), it's pretty darn near perfect. And still on its first set of batteries!
But I don't like the circular volume control. It's really difficult to know where the volume will end up when using it, especially if the IR path is anything less than perfect.