I was agreeing with your opinion on Cybertron until you mentioned Starscream. The best on screen Starscream is from Armada, in design and character.

 

I'll give you Armada has a better character design, but to me, the the Armada version is a bit weaker willed and unsure of himself and what he wants. Don't get me wrong, he has a great story arc and I really like they did something new with him, but the Cybertron one epitomizes the Starscream character to me. Megatron's second in command who has dreams of becoming his own leader, but actually has the cunning to plan his schemes through properly, is able to actually take Megatron and his army out of play for a few episodes, and has the sheer strength and force of will to make himself a serious threat for the entire show once he breaks off from Megatron, even having the brass bearings to solo the entire autobot team for what he wants, and wins! And when he sees Cybertron turn into his creator, his first instinct is to steal his power and try to kill him. Solo. And he isn't afraid to trash talk Megatron/Galvatron to his face once he has broken away, even to the point of ridiculing Galvatron after his defeat at the end of the show and telling him off for daring to give up.

 

At the moment it's:

1 - Beast Machines

I always wanted a series set entirely on Cybertron, with a darker mood and exploring more philosophical themes. The animation and character design are top notch. I have no problem with techno-organics being the next step and I actually really like how all the Beast Wars characters turned out. The ending is a fitting close to the "G1" saga. Still, I really, really wish we got that TransTech sequel.

2 - Beast Wars

Mindblowing back in the day. Still excellent today. Fantastic characters, voice acting and writing. Respects G1 and adds meaningful development to the Transformers universe. So many memorable moments. This is the best "ambassador" TF show, the one to be held up as a shining example of TF media.

3 - The Headmasters

Yes you read that right. In fact if a few things had gone a bit differently, if certain things were improved, this would be fighting with Beast Machines for the No.1 spot. On an aesthetic level this show really clicks with me. In my mind this is what Transformers should look like, with designs more developed than the simple smoothness of G1 yet not quite the over-done greebly blockiness of WFC. The cast is fairly focused and I love the idea of a small cast of Autobots roaming space aboard the Battleship Maximus. The stakes are really high here. This is probably the most competent/dangerous the Decepticons have ever been and the general mood can at times sink even lower than Beast Machines. I mean, which other TF show literally has the Decepticons insert a bomb into a friend of the Autobots, make him walk towards their ship and have the Autobots make the ultimate decision between killing their friend or having their ship be blown up? The show is highly flawed and I definitely don't agree with all the plot choices. The execution could use a lot of improvement, less Wheelie and Daniel, more show less tell/narration. But it really tries and it goes places that most TF shows wouldn't dare to.

Plus it has the coolest alt-modes in all of Transformers IMO