I always used, and still have, an old Jet clone of the kurt. Makes a dandy general use vice, and I toss the pricey toolmakers vice on when I'm doing extra close tolerance work. Can't speak directly about any of the other imports, but the jet vice has been a durable, dependable workhorse for me.

Kurts are far better than the imports, no doubt about it, but for hobby use or on one of a kind work they're not worth the price, imo. When everything is a one off and you're doing strange new setups every few cuts, the benefits of the high price vise become pretty moot in my experience.

Tiger