I am a door and window dealer. Home Depot and Lowes will usually sell stock items for less than I am willing. If the item is special order I can easily beat their price, but more importantly I go to the jobsite and I confirm dimensions and code compliance for no additional cost. Windows and doors can be very complex and expensive and they cannot be returned. This is an area where unless you have had a bad expierence you cannot fully appreciate the value of that service. If the cost from a window specialist is even close to HD or Lowes it's a no brainer. After all if you can't trust them to mix paint correctly how can you expect them to understand Egress codes, Jamb widths, Sight lines, DP ratings, Solar Heat Gain, Structural mulls, flashing details or Temper codes. All of these details must come together in order to ensure a proper fit not just in the opening but in reference to the application. Vinyl windows are not as tricky but they still require more knowledge than their employees usually have. The simple rule of thumb for the big box stores, if you know exactly what you need and where to find it on the shelf, buy it and you probably saved some money. If not, find a professional that you trust.

Well, your post has been here for over 24 hours, with no takers.....let me take a whack at it. Marvin has a standard AAMA 2605 paint - really good UV protection of the aluminum cladding and will resist fading and chalking. Marvin's ultimate casement has a really cool new feature that allows you to disengage the sash temporarily and spin it around so you can clean the outside of the sash from the inside of the house. Marvin's is extruded aluminum frame and sash. Jeld-Wen Siteline is a 2604 standard paint...not bad, but not as good. I believe the Jeld-Wen custom line is 2605 standard but it's an extruded aluminum frame and a rollform aluminum sash. Rollform aluminum is softer and will dent (and will dent a lot in a hail storm)and is molded right up against the wood. They also have a builder grade window, which is the bottom of the line and I do not care for it. I think a lot of Jeld-Wen's perception is that customer's are not always aware of the different grades thinking that Jeld-Wen is Jeld-Wen is Jeld-Wen (which actually, Pozzi is now Jeld-Wen Custom, Norco is now Jeld-Wen Siteline, and Caradco is now Jeld-Wen Builders Series). Same issue with Andersen and Pella. They have a really el-cheapo window and a high end window and many unsuspecting homeowners didn't know that going in and I think may have had higher expectations of that fabulously priced product than it was actually capable of performing. Eagle is an Andersen product. I don't run up against it too much here, and generally the perception from my builder customers is that their experience with Eagle left a bad taste in their mouths as far as performance and customer service is concerned. I have a favorite window here and when I mention it's name, I will receive a thorough beating from some of my fellow posters here because they are not familiar with it and they think it is a vinyl window (IT'S NOT!!!) but it is a really good window (2604 paint, Lo E 366 standard glass with super spacer, lots of wood in the product and foam filled head and sill, a patented hinged extruded aluminum nail fin and integral extruded aluminum drip cap/head flashing, available in 26 standard colors). The name of this "miracle window" is Semco. I am in the southeast, but I happen to know that California is a market for Semco. It's a smaller company, family owned and it's mfg facilities are located in Wisconsin. If you really like the fit and finish of the Marvin Ultimate Casement, you really owe it to yourself to take a look at the Semco window. It is priced well below the Marvin and is a beautiful product to look at and will perform well for you.

I love working with Aluminum clad windows. You are correct a solid wood window does look lnice but requires a ton of upkeep. You can get the same appearance by putting a surround around your windows out of something like Azek ( a composite product), or even a metal trim piece and cut a lot of the maintenance) I would personally stay away from buying a window from Home Depot if customer service is important to you. A good independent window distributor like your loca Lumberyard or a direct company like Pella or Eagle is going to give you much better service overall. I have had several of my fellow contractors tell me about the nightmares they have had with Jeld-Wen even though I have never worked with them. I have done some Eagle jobs and they can be a nice window but I prefer working with Pella, as I have built a long relationship with my rep and he works with me right down to the last detail. In the quebec area I would look at a triple pane window that is going to give you much better insulating value. You want to look at the U-value of the window ( it iwll be a decimal figure and the smaller the number the better its insulating value... a .24 is much better than a .35 and you want to stay away from any window where the u-value is above .35 where you live) The important thing is finding a good quality window which the 3 mentioned here do have good reputations in the business, then finding a rep you feel comfortable working with and you think will go the distance for you. SOmetimes less expensive is not always the way to go. COmpare warranties and try to find any information out about the suppliers you can find.

When we replaced all of the windows in our 100 year old house, we were newbies and went with Pella Architecture series because they had such a great reputation in our area (Philadelphia). I really don't like them. Many of the panes have some gray goopy putty like material leaking from them and they are very difficult to open/close. We have Marvins in our mudroom addition and Anderson 400 series at the beach and they are much better.