The base Sunrise is a very good window and better than both the Essentials and Vista (look at u-value, air infiltration, and design pressure ratings). The Sunrise has the same bones as the Vanguard etc, just misses some bells and whistles. I'd upgrade to sash reinforcement if possible. You could also check out the Okna/Himark and Softlite Elements for a couple of other top vinyl choices.
On options, you want a minimum of low-e and argon no matter where you are, but your location and the price will dictate whether TP is worth it or not.

Agree, Okna , HiMark, and Soft Lite Elements are some other very solid choices.
If you look at sunrise, do NOT go with the essentials. The verde, vanguard , and restorations are their top offerings, as " HomeSealed" said, try to request their sash reinfircement.

This post was edited by mmarse1 on Tue, Jul 2, 13 at 16:42

Thanks for the quick response guys. The company I've gotten quotes from does sell soft lite as well but I haven't gotten quotes on them yet, they say they prefer the Sunrise. I did put my info in on the Okna site but haven't heard from them and its been several days. Don't know who carries them in my area. I'm in Central Illinois, Peoria area. As far as recommendations on DP or TP it usually gets cold in winter and hot in summer but not as extreme cold as the northern climates. Not sure what would be recommended for my area. So you would recommend Sunrise even over the top of the line that Vista offers?(TP, argon, two panes low e coating) Thanks

The Vista isnt built as solid as the soft lite or sunrise.
Vista is a good mid grade though.

Okna/HiMark is in IL (Chicagoland), just not sure how far down they go. Strong Windows is a great company down there, but again not sure if they go that far down...
Okna/Himark, Softlite, and Sunrise are all on another level from Vista in my experience. Vista is not bad, just not a top offering. Those other companies have double hung units getting as low as .01cfm air infiltration ratings. That is important for obvious reasons, but also gives a great indication of how tight the manufacturing tolerances are and therefore the overall quality.

A very low air infiltration rate accompanied by a window with a True Welded Sloped sill ", no pocket/ true capture , or snap in sloped sills.

So I'm leaning toward going with the Sunrise. By sash reinforcement are you talking about I guess you would call it their mid grade glass pack which is a 12 layer system vs their 8 layer which is the standard? (Ultra-U Plus vs Ultra-U Plus12 if you are familiar with their specs) U-factor is the same at .29, SHGC improves from .28 to .21, is that worth an approximate 1200 dollar difference? They say yes and I'm inclined to agree that it may be...they didn't try to sell me on the TP, they said its not really necessary in our climate unless u want more noise deadening. They seemed to be pretty straightforward, but obviously they're salesmen, lol. Thanks for the advice!! I appreciate the non biased feedback!

In your region, you would want the higher SHGC, not the lower.
Sash reinforcement is a long bar inside the horizontal section of the sash which prevents deflection. Sunrise use fiberglass if im not mistaken so ask for " fiberglass reinforcement".
Remember, everyone is a salesman at the end of the day; from doctors to lawyers, from engineers to politicians. In other words, its very unrealistic to ask to buy something and not have anyone try and sell it to you.

So I want the one with the .28 SHGC? Why is that? Thanks!

Why? You want to take advantage of some passive solar heat gain in the winter months in chicago. A low shgc is more for arizona/ new mexico type weather where there is alot of heat and not very cold winters.

Mmarels is correct on the shgc. You can fine tune this aspect based on the circumstances of your home, but generally speaking you want a low u value and a moderate to high shgc in you climate. The only way a .21 would be beneficial would be if it came with a super low u value, like .19 or lower. Probably debatable even at that point....

Exactly..and the only reason you would have a .19 ufactor and lower sghc would be if you chose triple pane glass. Good point HomeSealed.

Ok makes sense, thanks guys!