I will agree with your assessment with a few added points. For shallow fishing I do like the BD types with the horizontal spools and the bail that swivels in the direction the fish is pulling it. Both the Heritage and Jacks are vertical spools and can't do that but they do still perform very well and with the larger spools are much better for deep fishing. My Heritage lakers are about 15 years old so I have no idea if they still use the press fit spool shaft that I hated. I changed them to a through bolt with nuts on both sides of the upright so the spools can't work lose and if the wood swells they don't tighten up. Jacks come with the through bolt so no issues there. Sensitive trip or for use with large bait fish is another issue with all of them. On the Jacks I find shortening the flag makes the trip a bit tighter and I rarely ever get a bait or wind flag. I never have used any bait larger than a large minnow about 3" long but can see where the bait clips would be necessary if using larger suckers.
There are other good quality tip ups or traps as they are called elsewhere. 40 Up, Indian River, and a few of the big tackle companies like HT, Frabil and Husky. Picking which one is best for you is a matter of how you fish, where you fish and what your finances dictate. Some also have to consider the weight and room they have for transporting them. I have sets of each of the above mentioned styles and base which ones I use by where I am fishing and what conditions I will be fishing in. If I was just starting off on the ice fishing adventure with limited dollars to put towards my tip ups I think either the Beaver dam or disc types that are much cheaper might be a good choice. If you can afford to spring for the lifetime high quality traps then just go for the Jack Traps and be done with it or go with the Heritage Lakers and fix the spool stud right off.