I've had an ilok for years with no glitches. Just don't immediately upgrade in case there's a bug. Let it sit for a month, check gearslutz for problems, then install if all seems well. The older Slate plugs were resource hogs. The new Virtual Channel only takes up around 5% what the old one did. They've been optimized, and work great. FG-X isn't really a plug you should keep inline anyway. Meant to be used alone for mastering.
 
I consider Slate plugs to be superior to others in how they sound, especially when pushed with a hot signal. Behaves more like hardware, including the noise, which you can usually switch off. Slate and Lexicon are all I use these days for mixing. 

I subscribe to the Everything Bundle and pay yearly. Without question it was one of the best purchases I've ever made. Slate plugins have replaced nearly every other plugin I was using. The only exception is when there simply isn't a Slate plugin for a particular effect (such as delay, etc.). 

As for being power hungry, I don't have any problems and I have up to two instances of VMR loaded on every single track (usually around 18 or so). Virtual Tape Machine can get a bit much if you use a ton of them, but just using them on your buses (instead of on individual tracks) is probably fine. I've never experienced any problems with the FG-X using too much power because I only ever need one instance of it (for the final mastering stage). 

The sound that these plugins give you, and their ease of use since most of them are integrated in the VMR (this convenience is a huge factor for me), is absolutely worth the price of the subscription. 

By the way, I compose primarily orchestral/world/ethnic style video game soundtracks, so that should attest to how versatile the plugins are. They'll work well on pretty much any style of music. 

I use Slate FG-X with Platinum and it works fine.  Much better since I upgraded to a more powerful computer since it is a resource hog.

Just an update:
I signed up for the monthly payment plan on a Sunday and got my brand new "ilock2" device the following Friday.  I followed the instructions that are provided from Slate when you place your order and everything went without a hitch (pretty impressive, so far).  So, I pull up a simple project that my daughter is working on and basically "undo" all of my Pro Channel setup and any extra EQ or Compression plugins from all of the tracks and buses. Then, I solo the acoustic guitar and get to tweaking. 
 
First impressions: Not that blown away.  Surprised?  I was, too.  Don't get me wrong, these are great plugins and if you were running a DAW that didn't offer as much as Sonar, maybe it would have been more impressive to me.  I found myself chasing my tail as I added more and more pieces and swapped the modules around and around until my ears were toast.  I will say that I have not seen any dropouts, glitches, or problems with having basically ALL of the VMR modules on each track and then FGX only on some buses.  Only issue seems to be the method of bypassing the whole rack.  It's best to do within the rack itself instead of trying to disable it within the plugin bin windows in the Console or Inspector view.  That did seem to make some garbage appear for a split second but enough that it is hard to compare.  If you use the "A" vs "B" in the VMR, that works better.
 
Least impressed module:  The preamps.  I need more time to try different tracks but I really thought that it would make more of a difference on an acoustic guitar.  I had to turn it almost all of the way up to hear much of a difference and then it was distorting.  Haven't done a vocal yet, so maybe this will change.
 
Most impressed module:  The freakin' FREE one, "Revival"!  Yes, the free one (if you have an iLock) impressed me the most.  It makes a great harmonic exciter without getting really harsh or boomy.
 
Another downer is the metering.  It's rather deceptive compared to Sonar's Pro Channel.  I know that we shouldn't mix with our eyes but I love that I can instantly see if any single module is being overdriven or even the whole Pro Channel for that matter.  I miss that, already.  Slate's modules look real pretty but I don't trust what the meters are showing versus what I am hearing.
 
I will continue to experiment but compared to the Pro Channel and all that comes with Sonar Platinum for LESS than just the Slate Plugin suite, I would not bother with this unless you have lots of extra money and use word like "WARMTH" a lot when describing tones.

Control + Z Studios
Just an update:
I signed up for the monthly payment plan on a Sunday and got my brand new "ilock2" device the following Friday.  I followed the instructions that are provided from Slate when you place your order and everything went without a hitch (pretty impressive, so far).  So, I pull up a simple project that my daughter is working on and basically "undo" all of my Pro Channel setup and any extra EQ or Compression plugins from all of the tracks and buses. Then, I solo the acoustic guitar and get to tweaking. 
 
First impressions: Not that blown away.  Surprised?  I was, too.  Don't get me wrong, these are great plugins and if you were running a DAW that didn't offer as much as Sonar, maybe it would have been more impressive to me.  I found myself chasing my tail as I added more and more pieces and swapped the modules around and around until my ears were toast.  I will say that I have not seen any dropouts, glitches, or problems with having basically ALL of the VMR modules on each track and then FGX only on some buses.  Only issue seems to be the method of bypassing the whole rack.  It's best to do within the rack itself instead of trying to disable it within the plugin bin windows in the Console or Inspector view.  That did seem to make some garbage appear for a split second but enough that it is hard to compare.  If you use the "A" vs "B" in the VMR, that works better.
 
Least impressed module:  The preamps.  I need more time to try different tracks but I really thought that it would make more of a difference on an acoustic guitar.  I had to turn it almost all of the way up to hear much of a difference and then it was distorting.  Haven't done a vocal yet, so maybe this will change.
 
Most impressed module:  The freakin' FREE one, "Revival"!  Yes, the free one (if you have an iLock) impressed me the most.  It makes a great harmonic exciter without getting really harsh or boomy.
 
Another downer is the metering.  It's rather deceptive compared to Sonar's Pro Channel.  I know that we shouldn't mix with our eyes but I love that I can instantly see if any single module is being overdriven or even the whole Pro Channel for that matter.  I miss that, already.  Slate's modules look real pretty but I don't trust what the meters are showing versus what I am hearing.
 
I will continue to experiment but compared to the Pro Channel and all that comes with Sonar Platinum for LESS than just the Slate Plugin suite, I would not bother with this unless you have lots of extra money and use word like "WARMTH" a lot when describing tones.

Agreed. Revival is pretty cool in particular use cases.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

I would agree with your initial review.  When I first got the Slate bundle, I could have written the same initial response that you wrote above.  I would only recommend that you take a little time to get to know the plugins.  
 
The Slate plugins (to me) seem to be more closely modeled on the original counterparts, and don't have the exaggerated response, that many plugins have.  The preamps are a good example of this.  When you turn up the gain in the Slate preamps, they don't tweak a bunch of other stuff in the background, to give you more of a perceived effect.  They do seem to react more like the original preamp would react.  This can sound less than stellar, when taken out of context, or solo'd, but I have found that they do work in the mix.  If found that I'm much less likely to get the over-processed mix, when using the Slate plugins.
 
With that said, I also use the Sonar plugins, which are also very nice plugins.  I could happily do a mix with only the Sonar plugins.  

When you strap the preamps and VCC over 40 tracks and throw the tape on the master bus, and mix into it instead of adding it later, it does make a huge difference. Mix one track that way, then turn them off. Then you'll see why people use them. Then again, it's not for everyone. My favorite albums are recorded to tape with hardware in real studios, and even 4-track necro production, and I can nail both of them ITB now. If you're already killing the dynamics in your mix, then you're not going to feel it as much. The saturation works best with dynamic material. I also recommend Softube's free Saturation Knob. An excellent source of analog mojo.
 

I was talking to my wife this morning about the whole "vintage" thing that is the Holy Grail for us older cats that are used to hearing vinyl and can actually hear what is missing from the digital.  I was telling her that we are basically trying to put the "ghost" back into the host by modeling all of those imperfections and random "artifacts" that we so long for.  The funny thing is that we get all amped up and excited if someone has an actual hardware piece of gear like an LA-2A or Fairchild and these things cost through the roof (old parts is hard to find, of course) yet, back in the day, the guys were like: "Yeah, it's one of those crummy Pultec's again, blah!" and they were just what was available at the time.  Who would of guessed that the imperfections are so pleasing? 
 
Younger kids mostly have never even HEARD that sound, let alone know what we are talking about and if they were to hear an album, they would say: "Ewww! What's all that crackling and popping?  Sounds really hissy and I have to turn up my volume ALL THE WAY TO '4' to even hear it, yuck!"  Classic.
 
I have even read that those same crunchy tones that we grew up listening to and miss the most are replaced by the MP3 garbled bit noise for kids, NOW.  If they don't hear some of that, they think that there is something wrong.