I really liked the design of the X2 pack and it would fit your price point. My only knock on it is that it didn't quite fit my torso. It was hard to access the waste pockets while on my back. Still worth the look though.
Your comment about the waist pocket hard to access - is my experience also - when the waistbelt is cinched up tight, the pockets are 'stretched' too much to put small binocs, camera etc into, without unbuckling the waist belt - this is a design flaw that Eberlestock should fix...
