We made the decision to go with vinyl framed windows & sashes because everything more expensive was basically only more expensive. The ones we contracted for with Patrick at Windows for Greater Tucson were 1/3 the cost of others, but were warranted to produce basically the same results. We made the decision solely for us: low cost, good looking, increased cooling/heating efficiency, and benefits just for us rather than for whomever might buy our house 10 years down the road. We got 3 new sliders, 2 large new slider windows sliding open side to side, one new picture window, 4 new clerestory windows, two crank open windows in the kitchen, and a new front door and side-light – all with a lifetime warrantee transferrable (for 10 years) to a new owner – cost was around $13,000.
I had good references from two acquaintances. Doherty is a nice guy who (given that I’m not much of a talker) probably talks more than he needs to, but much less than the guys trying to sell $50,000 windows.