While the new designs may be noisier, on the whole I think they work (megatron being an exception here, he's way too noisy for his own good, and ironhide is toeing the line). As for the argument about Bay shitting all over your classics, let's be honest here, the Transformers as a toyline and a cartoon have been evolving ever since the original toyline (ie, before they were called Transformers). Hell, the Alternators line was probably my favorite in recent memory, and those used modern vehicles and changed the look of the characters quite drastically. Point was, they looked cool.
And I agree with huZba on the toys. Not all are cool (the cheaper line is a little meh), but Prime and Starscream are definite standouts, imho.
As for the jet thing, he wasn't an earth jet, he was in his original alien craft form.
Also, while some of the nostalgia throwbacks were rather cheesy, most were quite awesome. "Starscream, you have failed me once again." Hee hee hee. xD