It sounds like you are approaching the search sensibly,

It is worth trialing as many as you can. TR2 in Thea is a little different to MLT in Kerkythea though.

Intergration of GPU in Thea is on the horizon.

Usually you wait a little for the implementation of features in Thea but to me the benefit is that when it is implemented it is a finished fully functioning high quality product.

For me the big benefit of Thea is the material creation system. It seems very logical and well laid out to me, designed for the user just like MOI.