I much prefer the "E" being the same height now, but personally, I don't like how the rim reminds of a casino chip.
Thanks for your honest feedback. I think I got stuck a bit on some of the elements in that design.

Here are my last two attempts to play a bit with the basic idea:


As mentioned, all proposals are available on this flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/116462858@N08/I will quit working on these for now in order to leave room for some other ideas from other people.
I like this new modern look more than the old ones. Will put them in my flickz.