Fwiw Steampunk Magitech (using buildcraft, thaumcraft, redpower and optionally computercraft) is superior in pretty much every way for infrastructure to what IC2 can offer in v5.0.*. And the toys are insanely cool now, although it's very difficult to compare to the Quantum Suit and Grav engines.
But the mining laser? Enchanted Wands of Excavation are way better in basically every normal use case. Mining lasers only win now if you love Long Range mode or Explosive mode, and most people I know only use those in very specific situations. And that's ignoring Thaumcraft's new automatic digging tool which is actually, I think, the coolest device in the history of Minecraft. It also can net you SO MUCH more ore than quarries or miners or even turtles can per unit time.