What I thinkis maybe more important than what brand is what dealersyou havein your area. If you go and buy say a Bowtech 200 miles away and there is only a Mathews dealer in your backyard, you may have a little more trouble getting the right info from the local guy seeings he sells Mathews. Most shops are pretty knowledgeable but if you have a dealer in your area it may be to your advantage to stick with their line of bows untill you get proficient setting up your own equipment. I kind of learned this when I bought my parker bow from Cabelas. (wasn't my intentions but when you get $400 in gift cards for christmas to cabelasand are in the market for a new bow) It still kind of torques me when you ask relatives for money towards a bow they have to get gift cards instead. Anyway in my opinion like others here, most any bow will outshoot the shooter even a $300 dollar bow setup properly. It pretty much comes down to how deep your pocket book is and what fits you,brands don't really matter other than bragging.