Six months ago my cheap coleman stove was junk, now it's my favorite

I bought this Coleman dual burner for like 40 bucks back in March and honestly it was terrible at first. The knobs felt wobbly, the wind would kill the flame, and it took forever to boil water. Last week I took it out to a spot near Flagstaff and it ran like a totally different unit. The difference was I finally figured out the flame adjustment sweet spot and bought a cheap aluminum windscreen for around 12 dollars. Also I replaced the tiny stock regulator with an aftermarket one from a hardware store and that fixed the weak pressure issue. Now it boils a quart in about four minutes flat. Has anyone else revived a budget stove instead of just upgrading to something pricey?