I wholeheartedly agree! I usually skip crafting in MMOs, as I find it to be a useless timesink until I'm max level and ready to grind up to the top tier items.
As a combat medic, I decided on Biochem as my crafting skill. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my craftables were better than vendor items right from the start!
Level 8 Medpacs
Common Medpac, Vendor: 525-625 health.
Compact Medpac, Biochem Green: 825-1000 health.
Prototype Compact Medpac, Biochem Blue: 825-1000 health + 365 over 15 seconds (1190-1365 total).
Reusable Compact Medpac, Biochem Purple: 825-1000 health, not consumed with use.
It sucks that the purple doesn't include the HoT, but the blues are over twice as effective as the vendor version. Love it!