I think what people are saying is comparing those HOD bulbs to good HIDs and in particular projector HID is like comparing a Hyundai Excel to a Ferrari. They are no where near as good and never will be which is why all nearer cars have HID and some are going LED but the LED lighting I've seen will have to come a long way to get the distance of HID.
I used to have HODs in my patrol before I went projector HID and Ive got before and after shots. It's like comparing a candle to a headlight. There not bad for a halogen but there got nothing on HIDs especially projector HID.
HOD lighting is better then standard halogens but not as good as HID. Then Projector HID is better again.
Cheers Mick.