You are in luck if you are near Milwaukee. One of the regular contributors to the board is a poster on here.

HomeSealed is based out of your area and you would be well served to have him take a look at your project and at least give you a bid.

Your vinylmax installer may be correct that the DP in his product than in the RBA window, however, to claim that vinyl (categorically) is better than the RBA is inaccurate.

The RBA window is a solid product but it is not less structural than vinyl as a whole.

That being said, plenty of vinyl windows have superior DP, air infiltration, and thermal numbers.

You have 3 pretty distinctively different product offerings listed there and the RBA number is actually better than I would have expected.

Have you decided what you want the windows to look like? If you are okay with vinyl, it should be the cheapest option in terms of budget and if you sort through all the smoke and mirrors, you can get a really...really good window.

If you like the wood "look" the construction and options of the RBA and Infinity will give you additional options to get closer to that option.

uPVC and PVC are basically the same thing. Your Sunrise salesperson was a dope and potentially a liar.

uPVC just mean UN-plasticized (i.e. rigid) PVC. All windows are made of uPVC or it would be an interesting effect to have a flexible window.

Agree, HomeSealed has an outstanding reputation for quality and integrity.
I would definitely contact them.

Ask to see the Okna 800 " EnviroStar", its a beautiful looking window and is head and shoulders above Renewal by Andersen in terms of energy efficiency.

Composite products including fiberglass and trex (or whatever Andersen calls it) are nothing more than gimmicks in my opinion, created to be "different" so that they can get more $ out of you. If you are open to the appearance of vinyl, it will offer the best value, bar none. Just be sure to pick a good product.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Windowsonwashington, thanks for pointing out Homesealed. They don't offer service in my County, but I may check into it anyway. I think we are going to look more into Vinyl. My wife likes the idea of a wood look, but we're both starting to appreciate the look of white windows with stained oak casings. Thanks for clearing up the PVC/uPVC issue. I thought that was the case, good to have clear input from someone else.

Aside from the NFRC website, does anyone know where I can get information to compare windows on an apples-to-apples basis. Andersen puts out great technical documents for their Andersen windows, but I can only find u-value, SHGC, and VT for RBAs. I'd like to see Air Infiltration and some other specs as well. Would the Andersen 100 series be comparable (in performance) to RBA since they are both Fibrex?

Has anyone heard anything on either Vinylmax or Innovations windows? Both seem to have strong specs and lifetime warranties, but I've seen companies send people insulated glass in the mail, leaving the homeowner to replace on their own accord.

Ask Renewal what their air leakage rate is. Guarantee they skate figure eights around that question. Okna and Soft lite have a .01 on their double hung windows.

The 100 series is a single-hung window with AI number of 0.10. The window does not tilt in,which probally makes it the only window in the last 30 years that lacks this feature. The 100 series casemnet window has a 0.023 AI rating and seems to be a nice window with competitive pricing and color options.Anderson does not offer a lot of glass options which tends to hurt their U ratings.

You would want to consider your installer part of your warranty. Most manufacturers will send out a new sash with glass in it.These are real easy to change out in a double-hung but can difficult in a casement.

Looking a little closer at the 100 series casement data this what I found.
typical air infiltration rating of (0.023 and U value of 0.29 with low-E or Smart sun low-E and a DP30 rating.

If memeory serves correct the Vinylmax is not tha nice of a window and uses a sloped/pocket sill design. They offer many lines though and I have not seen them all.Even some of the worst vinyl windows have very good warranties. You need to look at the whole package,

Go with a local quality minded installer, he will be cheaper and you will get better service with an overall much better value. Make sure it's someone with good references. National chains have a lot of overhead, and need to max. profit on their windows so that means they have to be cheap to manufacture.

Numbers on the 100 are actually pretty solid as Todd pointed out.

For whatever reason, RBA dances around the the performance data like they are walking on hot coals.

Give HomeSealed a ring and see if he will make an exception.