Not sure I'd hold that against it TBH, it's a small thing, takes a few seconds, considering the time it takes to set up a tripod properly. I sometimes use one of these £11 clamps for the same purpose - just drop it into your normal clamp and it's rotated 90 degrees
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00RK118FS/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid= Nice quality, too, with a fast-locking thread on the knob. I've got four of these clamps now, to add to my collection
The UniqBall does seem to be a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades thing though. It's main appeal IMHO is the claim that it can replace a gimbal head, but that's just nonsense - it simply cannot, and does not.
And the other thing that users have reported is positional shift when locking down. For long lens use, this is unacceptable and there are plenty cheaper that don't do it. I was fairly amazed to see them admitting to it in their FAQs though, perhaps because they've had a lot of returns for this reason. Here
http://www.uniqball.eu/faq quote:
"Q: When I tighted the red knob, the lens start to point upwards. What can I do to remdey this? A: The image stift is a behavoiur of Uniqball coming out of the mechanical structure. The optical axis rotates about 0.2 degrees up or down when securing the red knob. The longer your telephoto lens, with higher magnification, the effect results in a greater visible shift in the viewfinder.
To lessen or avoid it you may precisely balance your equipment on the head, so the red knob needs only a small touch, or you even don't need to adjust it, because with a proper friction, you'll be able to move your lens, and it stays in place when you release it."