Brother's VS Simonton 7300-s in SF Bay Area

[snasher]

Hello!

I'm looking to replace 10 windows and 1 slider in my home and hoping to get advice on which windows would be best.

I've narrowed it down to Brother's Home Improvement or Simonton 7300-s. The Brother's are all LowE 366, and I can get the same with the Simonton or go LowE2 on all windows and upgrade to LowE3 on those that really need it (or all for that matter). I do like having that option with Simonton.

One thing the Simonton dealer told me is that houseplants will not grow if you have all LowE3 glass. Can anyone confirm this?

Another difference is that for the slider, Brother's does a retrofit and the Simonton dealer does full replacement. Of course, both say that their way is the best, so I'd really love an objective opinions on this!

While cost and tax credits are considerations, I'm looking to make my decision on which are the best windows, installation, warranty and customer service. Honestly, based on the 2 quotes I received it seems that the cost differential is not that significant.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Sandra