[...]I'm happy for you if you like your insect model [...]

I disagree with opinions that support ship "A" is best and all the rest follow, for the majority of players. I agree with them, if this argument is suggested for each player individually. Each player using the same ship with exactly the same fit running the same missions will perform differently, time wise.And do we factor in cost & aesthetics or just the ones that have the highest applicable dps in EFT and add them to the list accordingly? The latter would be the easy step.

Taking into account the former, i personally wouldn't fly the SNI even if it was the highest dps mission running ship with that kind of looks.On the other hand Machariel looks amazing & has that so very important warp speed bonus that now makes all the difference in mission running. But I personally don't like turrets (for PvE) & I find the damn thing a little too big for my taste. I consider these, possibly strange sounding, personal quirks an important factor to my decision.

To make a long story short, during the years I have been running missions I ended up liking missiles instead of turrets, cruises instead of torps and heavy drones instead of sentries. Factoring in aesthetics & cost I ended up, quite easily I might add after the changes, to the Fleet Typhoon. I can't praise that ship high enough. Modifying the fit to accommodate more warp speed for obvious reasons I can personally submit the TFI as the ship I consider the highest dps ship (for me). All this taking into account the feeling I get while flying this ship. I perform better (and feel better) running missions with the TFI rather than any other worthy candidate ship for the same application (L4 Missions).

For someone else it could be the Mach or the Vindi, Rattle, RNI and so on. And that would be perfectly ok with me, as long as you are using a proper fit. At the end, the real differences, time wise, are so small that the most important factor besides a very good dps (which all these ships have) is aesthetics & cost and then which ship is the one that will make you finish this mission 1 or 2 minutes faster.