oops.  i misread.  sorry

I played around with the smart grid some more and generally agree with the OP, although not as passionately.  The smart grid could be "smarter" including being able to define various aspects of the grid.  But for my workflow using a secondary snap resolution is an effective solution and is easy to implement - just hold down the N key.  Can't even call it a workaround as this apparently is exactly what CW had in mind.  
 
Perhaps if I could see an example of a better implemented grid in Pro Tools etc. I could see what I am missing and feel more strongly about the need to change Sonar's.  But for now of the various things I'd like to see CW focus on I can't say this is near the top (better editing ability in take lanes is my top request, in case anyone cares).

I'm finding in Sonar X2 Producer that suddenly it's not working at all, not a stitch.  I do a lot of midi input on the fly in staff mode and expect when I drop a quarter note at a quarter position with a quarter snap that it'll land there, it won't, period, end of sentence.  Even clips aren't snapping where they're supposed to.  I've tried changing the magnet to extreme, double checked to see it's there, etc.  I just had to edit a project and manually calculate all the midi start points.  Fun.

Keni
I'm wondering what magic they perform that makes it so much better in some eyes?
Keni

They don't perform ANY magic, like Smart Grid attempts to. That's just it. You set the grid to the resolution you want to see and it remains regardless of the zoom level.