Hi Telly, We did this research in '03 and it took 5 months to research various brands. You may want to also look into Loewen, a brand that we just saw recently at a friend's new house. They seem to do really good work. We had to decide on quality as well as looks. At the time, vinyl, fiberglass and other composite looked weird even when colored. The neatest look was Aluminum so we settled for Aluminum cladding and wood interior. Things may have changes since then. We compared extruded Aluminum versus rolled aluminum, how do they bake on the color and what type of protection do they use, how the cladding is mated to the wood interior, whether the wood is solid wood or veneer, locking mechanism, ability to adjust height and extension of operating units, quality of interior wood work, glass and wood options. Finally, we needed to know if they could do what we needed for our somwhat odd-ball opening. Pella offers Duracast and something called Impervia, some sort of composite material supposedly stronger than Aluminum. You have to go see in person how they look and whether they meet your requirements. Andersen also offers some sort of special glass coating and some kind of exterior cladding other than Aluminum. You need to see them and decide whether they work for you. If you decide to stain the wood, it will be important to look carefully at the wood work to see if the lines are appealing. Different companies have slightly different way of finishing the interior. If you intend to paint them, then that may not be so important. If you see a window showing poorly in one store, find the same window in another store. We saw an Andersen in one shop being shown with visible gaps in the woodwork and even frayed ends. We went to another shop and the demo window showed real well. The local Home Depot and Lowe's were just not good at all in showing Pella windows and doors. We had to go to a shop in another town. Nothing beats close-up touching and looking at the windows and doors in a good shop. We settled on Marvin becaus we prefer the Marvin woodwork quality but that is just our taste. Good luck.

Pella uses roll form aluminum which cannot hold up to an extruded aluminum. Talk to the installing dealer about the service they will provide. Also check out the class action lawsuit against Pella for their sashs rotting. I have been in many houses with 10 year old aluminum clad Pellas rotting away. I have a family member that built their house in 1997 and all the aluminum clad Pella casements are rotted. Some have been replaced under warranty but it was a battle for them to get that taken care of. I'm not a fan of the glazng Anderson uses on the exteriors. The finish also chalks over time. They are still a much better window then Pella. Overall I like what Marvin is going. The biggest problem they have is the price.

I just installed 27 Anderson 400 Series, double hung replacement types, in my 95 year old home, and 1 patio door too. Love them. All of the subs working on my job have complimented them. I went with a terra tone finish on the outside, and they have wood on the inside. They glide very nicely, were installed really well (having a good contractor is everything!), got the screens with them too. It came out to about $700 per window plus or minus (I had odd sized windows - being an old home). Love the tilt out function for easy cleaning. The patio door was about $2500, including the cost of the hardware (6' door) and installation. It would have been more but my regular contractor as opposed to my window contractor offered to install it when he heard that it was going to cost nearly $4000 for the window contractor to do it (it would have been a special order door in that instance and I went to Home Depot to get the one I purchased instead). They have been through several heavy rains already and so far, so good.

There is quite a bit of misinformation that you have been given Mr Jones, I'd definitely take some extra time to sort through it all and make sure that you have accurate facts. I'll go through some, all of which are easily verifiable: Manufacturer and material : All three are very reputable, with Andersen and Marvin having a longer history. That said, Okna has indeed been in business since the early 90's and is a top 100 manufacturer as well. The 3 materials have similar histories as well, as none have been used commonly in a residential window application for more than 20 yrs. All three have their merits, although all three do represent a small "niche" . Vinyl and wood are FAR more common. There is no clear winner here IMO. All are suitable with no decisive pros or cons, particularly considering that each individual product is designed and engineered to exploit the respective materials' inherent strengths, and mitigate its weaknesses. If there is one that I'd put slightly behind the others it would be the Renewal, as adding wood flour/sawdust to vinyl really doesn't add much. Appearance: This depends of course on what areas are examined, however the Marvin all ultrex integrity is by far the slimmest. The Renewal and Starmark are both somewhat bulky by comparison, although neither is very bulky compared to some other products. Despite the slim lines, the all ultrex Integrity is actually the least attractive based on the feedback that I hear. The wood/ultrex on the other hand is bulkier. This category is in the eye of the beholder. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Interior appearance: well stated. Some folks would prefer the rich, real wood interior (Integrity) with only a 10 year warranty, others would prefer the synthetic stainable with lifetime warranty and no maintenance (Starmark). Winner again depends on the individual and their needs/wants. Hardware: The Renewal and Starmark both have more attractive hardware options than the Integrity IMO. Both are all metal, both have multiple finishes available. Performance: Here's a big one. To accurately compare, it is necessary to look at apples to apples glass packages. At .25 for a standard double pane package, and .19 for triple pane argon, the Starmark runs away with the win here. With equivalent glass (surface 2 low e, argon fill), the the Renewal and Integrity are .29 or higher. You can switch to any other glass package across the board, and apples to apples the Starmark will be multiple points better. This can be verified via CPD number (certified products directory) at nfrc.org Air Infiltration: Another big one. The reps that you have spoken to are either flat out lying, or being highly manipulative. The only window of the 3 that sees that .05 AI number is the Starmark. The other two are in the teens at best, if not .2+. I would request a structural test data sheet for reference. If renewal or Marvin will provide it, make sure to compare the size of the window and configuration. It is highly likely that your rep(s) are using casement or picture window ratings to compare to the starmark double hung. The starmark is .01 as a casement. Patio doors: Since this was mentioned, the differences as stated for windows continue for patio doors. If the real wood interior is preferred at the expense of performance, then the Marvin or renewal options are better. The Starmark will be a much better performer, but without the real wood interior. Installation and durability: On durability, this is another area that would trend toward Starmark based on containing no organic parts that can rot, and also on the lifetime warranty. Renewal and Integrity are each 10 years (20 on glass). Installation itself will vary by dealer, and should be given proper weight. One cannot speculate on the quality of installation based only on material however. The only thing that could possibly be considered on that line of thinking would be availability to contractors I suppose. Integrity can be purchased by anyone, whereas Renewal and Starmark are exclusive products where dealers are regulated by the manufacturer. One important thing to note, is that comapanies that install Renewal windows are NOT owned by Andersen. They are a dealer that exclusively carries that line and meets Andersen requirements, however they are not actually part of Andersen. Price: This again will vary by dealer and area. Renewal has a reputation as having the highest price, using high pressure sales, and also of posting thinly veiled, inaccurate info where THEY talk poorly about competitors (not to say that is the case here, of course). That said, I'm sure that there are some great Renewal operations across the country, just as there great Starmark and Intergity dealers. Ultimately, these are three windows that are solid to excellent, and each have their own pros and cons. You are unlikely to go wrong with any of the three, it really depends on which options most closely aligns with your goals for the project. It sounds like that is the Renewal at this point, I'd only recommend getting the accurate performance information, and then perhaps that would (or not) impact your decision.