Actually the term is used interchangably and sometimes incorrectly for any type of reflex sight. Contrary to hype there is no true holographic sight because the term means something that hangs in space, i.e. a hologram which is a laser generated form in 3-D space. The term is used for reflex sights because you are viewing against a window, i.e. no engraved reticle, and the laser diode generated pattern moves with your eye. If the optics are fine enought the pattern (dot, cross, etc.) will still be at POA no matter where it is in the window. However cheap sights usually have some parallax error when the dot is outside the central 50% over the optical window.
And the word good and cheap hardly applies in shooting red dot optics of any kind. When you are a true competition shooter the only things that matters are reliability and brightness in daylight. Shooters in different shooting disciplines tend to gravitate to those sights that do what they want with no issues. I will exclude military optics over $500 because we are not shooting where our lives depend on it. Bullseye shooters tend to use UltraDots exclusively in pistol matches. Action shooters in pistols use C-Mores about 85%. Many rifle shooters not requiring magnification use the C-More also. Aimpoints are also popular. Besides C-Mores the only sight I will use under $100 is TruGlo. Their reflex sights (especially the dual color ones) are reasonably reliable. While they are put together with a little more care than the average Asian reflex sight they can still suffer from one particular issue, which can be fixed, the disappearing dot problem. I have fixed a good many of them and they can be fixed permanently. Can't say that about the ATN, NcSTAR, Barska and any others. The other thing the TruGlo has is it is almost as bright in the sun as a C-More, especially when you use the green color. While I use C-Mores exclusively on all my open class competition pistols, I currently use a TruGlo Dual Red/Green Reflex sight on my AR15-22 that I use for Ruger Rimfire, Steel Challenge, and rimfire multi-gun and tactical matches. Once I did my little fix on the battery/switch area it has never failed since. I suppose it if ever does fail for sure the gun will get a C-More like the rest, but I like the multi-reticle patterns of the reflex sight.
When I started experimenting with red dots early during my speed steel rimfire days a sponsored shooter friend of mine told me to skip all the c**p and just get a C-More. It took me trying out 5 or 6 sights under the $100 ceiling before I bought my first C-More. And that sight is still on my Buckmark to this day. You can get the polymer versions for around $209 if you shop around. Otherwise steer clear of most of the Asian built and sold reflex sights.
And I realize most of what I say will go in one ear and out the other in most people. I just hope they remember what I said when whatever sight under $50 they get fails for no apparent reason.
