RE: Which low priced scope?
A fixed-power Leupold would probably be my first choice. Leupold has a great reputation for customer service so I would start there. Weaver is now owned by Meade and I no longer trust their optics.
Another out of the box idea is to go to Ebay and pick one of the older Redfields that were made in Denver (not the "new" Redfield company). I have two that are still going strong.