Hard plastic seems to be the defacto item in vehicles from all makers today. The real issue is how the hard plastics look and feel. Let's just say that the hard plastics that GM uses are very different than the hard plastics Toyota uses, or Ford uses. I'm impressed with the plastics in the Prius. They seem to fit well and fell nice to touch. I'm not sure I would call them warm, but I wouldn't call them cold or cheep. GM's plastics leave a lot to be desired. They seem thinner than some other manufacturers, and the textures they choose to use are... well... strange. The thing about this argument is that it is highly personal and related only to opinion and personal taste.
I'm not all that dismayed by having exposed screws on the door panel. I believe the only exposed screw is in the interior handle on the armrest. That isn't too bad really. There are lots of cars out there where there are exposed screws up and down the sides of the door panels to keep them on the door.
Sure, power seats would have been nice, and I do wonder why they were excluded, however what I got was pretty nice anyway. I just hope that power seats aren't a huge reason why other buyers might shy away from the Prius. What I'm saving in gas easily makes up for not having power seats, or leather for that matter (at least in a psychological way).