I am one of those who just hated the Elixirs when I first used 'em (coudln't stand the feel). But they are so cost effective I learned to get used to 'em. I am one who breaks strings occasionally and I have to say that after using Elixers on three guitars for over one year; I do not break them any more often then I break other brands. The problem I have with breaking Elixers, and this is a common complaint among my guitar player friends ... is that they are expensive to replace (since I could not buy them individually). But I solved that probem. I bought G's and D's in the appropriate size from any brand that my music store carried in singles. I keep a bag of singles at all times. So when I break an Elixir, I replace it with a non-Elixir string. Yes, eventually the mismatch sound bothers me and I replace the entire set - but, it seem to me, at the same time I would have anyway. Also, I've lately discovered at least one store near me sells Elixir singles, so I've started stocking up on those.

While I didn't like the feel of these strings, at first - and their sound is only pretty good, compared to some of the others - they sound pretty good for a looong time. And I can get up to a month of hard playing on them, where the others I replaced every week, or more often.