I currently own a FLIR thermal, an AN/PVS-4 3rd gen, a MK7900 3rd gen ATN and a Pulsar digital. Not a fan of thermal, although the new stuff has gotten a lot better. You can see animals that you otherwise might not with thermal, but that don't necessarily mean you will get to shoot them.
I prefer my 3rd gen night vision with an illuminator. They don't give that away either, but it works flawless.
I have to say though that I am very impressed with the digital Pulsar. If it existed back when I started I probably would prefer it and for the initial layout of cash I definitely would have at least bought it first. You pretty much see the same as 3rd gen NV, but without the green tint.
Biggest advantage besides the reasonable price is the fact that it has higher magnification capability. Hard to zoom up even 3rd gen much over 4 or 5X because the screen gets "grainy". My digital goes up to either 15 or 20X and still looks pretty good. Still uses an illuminator to make their eyes shine. I cant really say about toughness and longevity...I have not had this digital for as long as I have had my NV. Coming up on 20 years of great service.
One final thing, the NV is pretty simple, the digital does a lot I don't need it to do and is complicated. In our modern gadget age some folks like that...I don't particularly need to go back to school to learn to use a scope!!!!