Here are the prices I've found online (without doing much searching or eBay looking). Based on what I've seen on eBay with each of these they seem to fall in line with the cheapest needing more work out of the box (just as some have said in the first place). I do understand that any of these would last a LONG time, if cared for properly. So here is the list of some of the recommendations from the thread.
__________ 4 1/2 " smoothing planes
Lie-Nielson (Iron version) = $325
Veritas = $245
Quangsheng = $193
Wood River = $175
___________
now, another factor that is important to me as a user is the warranty of each of these, so, in a nutshell here is the basics of each, and the customer service of the companies. This is where Quangshen falls off a bit for me since I couldn't find a US distributor. That being said, perhaps they have compensated for the US market in some way.
At this point I'm just typing my thought process. I realize it seems like a no brainer for some. I'm leaning toward Veritas all things considered...
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