[j-nsp] MX vs. M

[Jason Lixfeld]

I've been looking for GSR12406 alternatives and first was led to the  
M120, but then was led to the MX series.  I need a device to fit into  
a provider network at the edge, facing transit, peer, backbone and  
core.  Heavy layer 3, heavy BGP, heavy OSPF, no QoS, no MPLS (yet) -  
just a big-ass router with lots of wire-speed interfaces at decent  
bang for the buck.

The MX seems to be excellent on paper - line rate DPCs, layer 2 and  
layer 3 capable, JunOS, etc but everything I've read suggests that  
it's positioned to be an MPLS box, and not a BGP box.  Sure, it runs  
JunOS so it can do BGP, but...

I have a hard time believing the MX isn't crippled in some way,  
because it seems to me that if it weren't, it would stand to  
cannibalize the M Series market.

Is the MX as good as it's cracked up to be?  Is the only reason  
Juniper isn't worried about cannibalization due to the fact that the  
MX is Ethernet only where the M is mixed media?