It depends entirely on what duty you expect of it. If you're a site chippie and want a plane that won't break the bank if it gets damaged or pinched, normal Stanley. For bench work, Stanley Sweetheart have had some positive comments on here, so would be the better bet. If you don't mind doing a bit of cleaning and minor fettling, old Stanley or Record from a dealer, Ebay or bootsale. If you want something that works 'out of the box' (apart from honing the iron), Stanley Sweetheart again. If it's your only plane, and it needs to do roughing out and smoothing, Sweetheart or vintage. If it's a jack plane to compliment a set of existing planes, and expected to do roughing out only, normal Stanley would probably do.
Then, of course, there's personal preference....
No right answer, I reckon!
