I love my apex regs, T20, TX100 and a new ATX200. Mike's issues with the 1/2 inch ports are not important for general diving in my opinion. That size hose is very common (Seaquest, Aqualung, Apex, et al) on regs these days, and you can always use an adaptor. I think his concern is with interchangeability (is that a word?) in tech diving where the gear has to be uniform. Buy one as it comes in the box, use it, have fun, you won't regret it.
Neil
Neil