I also have an Epiphone DOT, and the TA-50 compares favorably to it. They are very similar. The Aria is a little fancier with the binding on the body and neck, and the fretboard inlays. The finish was perfect. They shipped mine with a new set of #10 strings, to replace the lighter 9s that were on the guitar. For the price I think I'd choose the TA-50 over the DOT.
It did need some extra setup though. The neck pickup wasn't sitting flush, it was rubbing on the plastic pickup guard. I had to disassemble and file the plastic pickup guard a bit to let the pickup move up/down freely.