I agree. I've had a Kirkland Bag for 5 years and 500K miles and it's held up. Before that I had Tumi - without wheels, and before that Hartmann. I figured even if the Kirkland died had to be replaced every year or so, it was still cheaper than the Tumi. The thing is it hasn't.
I purchased an expandable for my daughter, 3 years ago when she went off to college. The wheels on that one are a little big and sometimes she has to fight to get it into the overhead. I think the wheels on the new expandable - just bought one for a co-worker are better. ^