Well, you guys are correct about it being basically a P-bass. And, the Hondo is a solid body long-scale bass whereas most of the Longhorns are hollow body short scales.
That being said, the Hondo has its aficionados. Tom Comet, the bass player for Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks uses one frequently with an Orange amp and gets a very nice tone out of it. He used to use the Hondo as a backup to his Fender Precision, but now the Hondo usually gets the nod and the Precision sits in the backup stand.
I agree that one should not expect a Hondo to sound anything like a Longhorn but there are many worse choices than a Hondo. Just my $.02...