Thanks again, all. After some heavy reading, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna grab the 10685. As someone said, this is the Caddy/Lexus of the mower world in many respects. I'm a Honda fan, but after viewing that straight Honda mower at HD, I like the LB controls better. That thumb-control thing just does not look comfortable / ergonomic at all. The only one left to look at is a Husqy-Honda combo at Sears, $359, rwd. I'm still thinking the LB will win this competition, but looking is half the fun so I'm gonna check it out. Didn't hurt that my HD guy said the 10685 might get marked down some more this week...cool. Maybe I'll just go in and make an offer. I've heard they will deal on closeouts. Fairyprincess, thanks for the advice, but I never scalp my lawn. As I mentioned, I'm (or else my gf is) fond of scalping the sewer grate in my front yard. Well, somebody hit it! Ha. This will be avoided in the future!

Thanks everyone for your responses! techiestar: Great idea on the towel rack, and thanks so much for the photo! Much appreciated catherini: Yes, to tub or not to tub is quite a dilemma. I think I'm going to stick with the tub. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll need to soak with Epsom salts. coolbeans: I agree, I won't do #2. debbiejoy: Totally agree about having natural light in the bathroom. I'm going to switch option #3 around so that the bath is on the other wall. That way, I can have as big a window as I want. (Yes, we are putting a new window in, so we can have whatever size we like.) sandiandjerry: Yikes! I didn't notice that!!! The last thing I need is the bathroom door opening to reveal the (ta da!) toilet. mongoct: Bingo! That is precisely what I'm going to do. - - - - Again, thanks so much. Problem solved! Yaaaaaaaaay for this forum!!! (I don't know how I ever lived without it!)

Thanks for responding rivers7 and rowan 1963. It has been quite a while since I first posted that. A lot has happened. The only manufacturer locally that will make a 3x5 bow window is Cascade. Even then the quotes I got were from $1681 to $2255, depending on the line. At those prices I can't really afford a bow window and I am going to start over with just a new picture or slider window. If you were going to get one of those would you still recommend the Ply Gem Premium or pro 100 and the Milgard Tuscany? I think I can get a local contractor to bid those. One other line that a local contractor was recommending was Empire Pacific. Have you heard of that? Thanks again

We have Marvin Wood/Clad, low-E 2, argon, dbl-hung, casement and french doors and they are five years old now. We are in central CA, south of SF Bay. I am not a pro, just a homeowner. I have no first-hand experience with the other two brands you listed nor did I research them (2002-2003). We did research Milgard, Pella and Andersen and saw Loewen at a friend's house. So the experience here is just on Marvin, not a direct comparison. Everything could have changed since five years ago. We wanted wood interior to stain so we required the best looking woodwork. The best looking woodwork at the time was by Marvin with stainable matching wood screen for the casement. They had very tight tolerance and were beautifully finished. The extruded AL and Kynar coating used on the cladding helped our decision. We also had a few simple custom requests and Marvin, at the time, was the one that had no problems meeting them. If all things were equal, the ability to customize and the woodwork quality would be given the most weights in our decision. It was then one of the more expensive bids but we have no regrets. After five years, they have been through 115-F heat and 25-F cold, exposed to direct sun, some snow, several hail storms, hit by balls, bikes, frisbees, some wind-whipped gravel and everything still works like new so far. No discernible fading yet. In terms of comfort, they have kept us relatively cool in the summer and pleasantly warm in the winter due to the low-E and argon. No nasty cold draft, no condensation except the bathroom one due to high internal humidity. Installation was top notch so they keep our house very quiet inside. We are in a state listed wildfire zone so we needed AL clad and tempered glass to resist the heat of wild fires. These ones do have metal spacer between the glass panes and we have learned that it is not the best in terms of limiting thermal transmission. We do not know if Marvin has changed that. With the large differences in price, you may want to carefully compare the three in terms of construction, material and then see which fits your application requirements. For example, if the intent is to paint, and they are all more or less equal in quality, then go with the cheapest. If the intent is to stain, then the best woodwork is important. If you plan to live in the house forever, it pays to get something you will be most happy with day to day for the next 20 years. Good luck!