I have about a dozen (1, 2, and 3 cell) 8-25c lipos that I've been running in my RC planes and helicopters during the last 3-4 years. Of these, only 2 individual cells have ever failed. One was a single cell battery and the other a 2 cell (that I converted to a single cell by removing the bad/puffed cell). One of these cell failures was probably due to "operator error" and the other was bad "right out of the box". Some of these batteries have well over 100 cycles on them. I must also say that I had an 8 cell NiMh battery that lasted well over 200 cycles before I ruined it (due to over charging the unit).
All in all, I'd say that lipos are a very good choice as long as you use, charge, and store them properly.
BTW, my lipo batteries range from inexpensive "RTF" units to the higher quality "Align" brand and, everything in between.