I am shopping for replacement windows, and having made an extensive search I cannot believe the lack of information on Reliabuilt replacement windows. With very few post about products from Lowes, most all are for Pella windows, which are actually not a true Pella product. What gives?

I think most people who are educated about windows avoid Reliabilt and hardware store windows in general. That includes Pella vinyl windows.

The board doesn't boycott any brands pre se. It just promotes the good ones

Does it promote the good ones, or the ones only available from professional installers? Is there a good one that can be purchased at a decent price by a do it yourselfer?

There certainly are good windows that can be purchased by diy'ers, but you won't find many at HomeDepot or Lowes. Check out your local building supply wholesalers. ABC and Allied are a couple of national chains (who do sell to the general public) where you can find some of the products we recommend rather than junk... Also keep in mind that all of the opinions expressed in these forums are just that, opinions. For most of us, they are based on many years of education and experience; and we eat, sleep, and drink windows all day everyday... It is your choice whether or not you want to heed the advice that is given.

Simonton is well regarded here. They'll sell to anyone with a pluse

The problem with retail store windows is they are all geared towards a price sensitive buyer. Some might say overly sensitive. Most shoppers in retail stores are not very educated about windows and never take the time to get educated. They will buy brands that have familiar sounding names like Andersen and Pella without questioning the quality. HD and Lowes tell manufacturers to build a window they can sell for a certain price point and then the manufacturers figure out how they can get the price to where the store will buy from them. This is the reason that mostly lower end windows are available to the general public.

OTOH if I was a homeowner and was looking for a decent window at a certain price, the upper end Reliabilt would be near the top of my list.

So Skydawggy, you say the reliabuilt model #3500 is a quality product, but the models 3201, and 3301 are not? Does anyone know who manufactures the Reliabuilt?

I have spent a lot of time (before I joined and posted) studying this forum, as I am probably a member of more forums than anyone in the country, as I investigate throughly (which includes joining forums), any time I have a problem with anything, and/or am about to make a purchase. And this is a very hard forum to learn anything from (I would say the hardest of many I have spent considerable time on), as most all post on this forum do not give any evidence as to what is quality, or junk, but only knock the big box, mainly Lowes. Being a retired home builder, and building contractor (only before the time of replacement windows), I am not illiterate when it comes to building products, and I know that the main problem today, is if you have a good product it is hard to find a decent skilled craftsman to do a quality job of installation, which is the main reason I am a do-it myselfer. When someone knocks a product, I do not want to hear a statement, that it is junk, I want to hear the reason why it is junk. You can double the price of a product, and that does not make it quality, but a quality organiser, manager can produce a quality product at a lower cost than most ineffecient operations existing in this country today, that is how the Japanese whipped our auto, and other industries, by smart management.

I didn't say I considered Reliabilt a quality prroduct. I said if I was to buy a window from a hardware store, that Reliabilt would be near the top of my list. Reliabilt is made by Atrium and the 3500 is the same window as the Atrium 8700. Not a bad window, certainly not junk, and a good buy for a DIY or someone on a tight budget. But beware because Atrium just came out of bankruptcy. I'm sure they have reorganized sufficiently to satisfy their creditors but...............

There are plenty of times on here that we give the reasons we don't like certain windows. If you haven't seen me give specific reasons, then you are reading these forums with a blind spot. Most often it is b/c of a flimsy vinyl extrusion, defective design, poor warranty or customer service, lack of quality control or just first hand experience with a particular manufacturer.

I have installed quite a few Atrium branded windows and have always had good results with the products. Customers like them and they have held up over the years. Atrium is a vertically integrated company who extrudes their own vinyl, manufactures their own glass units and does a good job with on time delivery and customer service. They are on par with Simonton in a lot of areas in my opinion. The one drawback that they have is in their lack of offering in the IG units such as Superspacer or triple glazing. They also sell their products through wholesale distributors and directly through dealers under the Ellison name. Atrium is what I would consider to be Ford or Chevy as compared to a Soft-Lite or Sunrise being Mercedes or BMW as to the type of customers they market towards. Bottomline is, all will get you from point A to B, but how much are you willing or able to pay for the extra bells and whistles and higher quality and attention to detail.

These windows are a very good value in the their price range.I have installed the 3201's and 3500's only.If you are just going with white I would get the 3201's.The 3201's also have better air infiltration numbers then the 3500's.These windows may be found cheaper under different rebadged Atrium brands.The Home Depot's in Minneapolis area do sell Simonton's but you usually have to ask.Soft lites are also sold around here by independent dealers that are not even listed Soft lite's web-site.Most dealers and installers I know like to sell brands they specialize in because they can get better discounts on them and higher mark-up.