I agree with everything you say in your post, and for the same reasons.
I'm not a Vortex fanboy, nor am I bashing ZCO. All I wanted to do is point out the written warranty differences and my experience with each brand. I've owned or still own at least a dozen Vortex scopes... there are three gen-3 Razors in my safe and I just bought a Strike Eagle 3-18x44 to stick on an AR - in no small part because of all the discounts to be had on Vortex optics, but also because they just get the job done for a very competitive price and... warranty.
To answer your question re illumination: I didn't send the scope in. I actually called about doing so not because of illumination but because my rifle fell off my cart about two feet onto a gravel drive after 2nd stage at a match. I missed a number of targets I should have hit afterward, so I wondered if I had damaged it (negligence!).
I just didn't get a good feeling during and after that call, so I took no action. The illumination kinda sorta works; it's just not bright enough to use on shaded targets in full sun and batteries die pdq. And I discovered that I had used my .223 calculator profile during the match, which is pretty darn close to the 6BR profile under 600-700 yards
. The scope's tracking was and is fine.
It may well be that ZCO would have taken care of illumination gratis had I sent it in.
DBD is right about the thinner optic of the gen-3 Razor (compared to ZCO 527) being a disadvantage in some circumstances. For that exact reason, I swapped the ZCO from my 6BR to my Vudoo .22, and the Vudoo's Razor went to the 6BR. Works better.