[The Codfather]

I agree on a lot that was said so far.
I cannot say anything about the Apex, I know a lot of people use this controller and have had great success with it.
I have always used a profilux, so for me, I like what it can do, and in a lot of cases, I've been able to change or modify it to do exactly what I wanted.
If you tried the profilux in the past, you probably were using Profilux Control. This was a bit tricky to figure out and in some cases, took multiple attempts to get things to work as you needed. With the new GHL Control Center, it is way better, in my opinion. The updates and software are easy to navigate. I bought a junky laptop that I use solely for the system and it works just fine, but there are ways you can use your Mac.
I'm sure that any controller may crash, and yes, I've had my P3 go down as well. I have however been able to get it back up and running within a couple hours. But for somebody new to it, it may look a little overwhelming. But I have never had to send it away, I've always been able to fix it. I bought a second unit, thinking it would be good to have a back up. I keep it updated and sitting on a shelf, but never have I had to use it.
As for new and improved, the P4 is now out and a new mitras series is also available.