As someone who has had stock, then PIAA Hyper Whites, and now a Phillips 4300K HID kit in my Integra I have to say the lighting goes like this.

HID>PIAA>Stock

The difference between the PIAAs and stock was minimal, the difference between PIAAs and my HIDs was incredible. It may not be as perfect as stock projector HIDs but it is a vast improvement over stock halogen and IMHO certainly not a waste of $$!