That is true. Unfortunately, that's the only first-hand experience with Android I've had so far. It wasn't by choice. If I had to get an Android device, I would without a doubt try a stock Google one. I don't expect a huge difference, but it should be more pleasant.
It actually is a pretty big difference. I had a really bad first impression of Android from using early HTC stuff, but my current job is Android development so I figured I should check out the alternatives--and I still had my iPhone, so I could swap the SIM. The AT&T store sold me a Motorola Atrix HD, running either 4.0 or 4.1, and it was awful. It was ugly, Motoblur stuck a bunch of crap I didn't want everywhere...just bad. I took it back the day I got it and bought a Galaxy Nexus online, with 4.1 on it, and it was remarkably impressive; I've been using Android ever since.
I've seriously considered a Galaxy Note 2, but TouchWiz's existence offends me. :) If there was a decent stock-ish build that supported the pen I'd be all over that.
