You're correct; I misspoke. I should have said "composite" window. The Andersens are made from a composite product called Fibrex, which is basically wood mixed with a resin-type material. From what I've read, it isn't as strong as the Ultrex fiberglass that Marvin uses, but I'm not sure if the Ultrex is $8500 more impressive. We don't want to go with the 400s because we don't want the maintenance with the wood portions of the windows. I looked over the two quotes closely this morning. The substantial difference is in the fixed glass (solid single pane) picture windows. The Integrity windows are more than double the price of the 100s for these fixed windows. For casements and other opening windows, the prices were not substantially different. I guess I'm not sure why these fixed windows are more than double the price? Thoughts??

A-Series has a fibrex frame and a fiberglass clad sash. This is from Andersen's brochure on the A-Series for professionals. There is no reason why fibrex should fail any sooner than fiberglass. It is completely immune to water, just as is fiberglass. The advantage of A-series is that it is available in a number of deep colors, Marvin Integrity has a much more restricted palette of exterior colors. We are probably going to go with the A-series because of color choice. Otherwise, I would definitely go with the Marvin Integrity. That said, I see no reason to fear fibrex as a material, it has been in use for quite some time. Here is a link that might be useful: Link to downloadable brochures

I definitely recommend the Marvin. Andersen is fine, but the Marvin is better. The GBG grills are more popular, but regardless I wish Marvin had the SDL option in the Essential series. They offer in both Elevate & Signature, so I have to believe it's coming eventually. I told my wife I wanted SDL for our house, she said "That's fine, but then you'll be cleaning them". We decided we didn't need grills. :)

I got to say that Andersen A series is one nice window. I really like it. The Elevate is ok, seems like the Essential with added on wood trim. But that Andersen is nice. I already purchased one Marvin Essential, I'll get it in and evaluate it. Maybe install it to see how I like it before deciding which direction I want to go.