first off, I would avoid using money as a measure, as tempting as it is. I would focus on what is most important to you, find out the rebreathers that match that desire set and choose accordingly. whether you end up with a more or less expensive rebreather ideally should not be a factor in your choice as it will make little difference once you get over the initial shock...it's a chunk of change no matter what you choose, you'll get over it. You might even end up single and with a lot more free time!
things to consider:
-front or back mounted counter lungs, both can be had with low work of breathing and good trim, making back mounted more of a viable option than used to be.
-do you want a plug and play unit that walks you through the set up?
-are your aspirations recreational or technical
-do you want to be able to easily plug in other sources of gas to your loop without aftermarket additions? (does the unit come with additional MAV's?)
-do you place robust build quality as a high priority.
-is field serviceability something you prefer (will you be taking it to remote locations far from a service center?)
-do you mind sending the unit back to the hatchery each year for maintenance or do you want to do the maintenance yourself?
-if not field servicable, how far away is the manufacture from where you live (another country?)
-do you want a manual or automated or a hybrid o2 addition system?
-do you care if it's energy efficient or do you not mind popping new batteries in it frequently?
-do you care how big the unit is?
-how modifiable/customizable would you like the rig to be? some lend themselves more to tweaking than others.
-do you care what kind of scrubber options it has, EAC (disposable cartridge) only, granular and EAC or radial vs Axial scrubber, or all three?
-do you have a feel for how many hours you'd like for scrubber duration? (short infrequent dives... less might be better, less waste... frequent and or long dives, then longer duration is probably better)
the luxury we have now is that there are a variety of decent options out there depending on what you want/need.
