A lot of us would love to be able to chime in on EE, I'm sure. Not having a downloadable demo or some way of checking out without paying $200 makes it way lower down the list when you're looking for alternatives.
I would love to check it out; but if I don't like it or it won't work for my clients it's a total hassle.
Not having a demo available is beyond ridiculous. I asked about it in their forums and was told to email sales. I went ahead with the purchase anyway.
It would not take much for them to setup a personal sandbox demo just like spree commerce does ( http://spreecommerce.com/demo )
It can't be that they don't want people to think the product is too complicated before purchase, as their after purchase help docs are limited and they have no personal follow up or checkin.
I would love to check it out; but if I don't like it or it won't work for my clients it's a total hassle.