Shoe mount Flash Recommend

[Pepsi35]

Lets face it, I WANT the Canon 580EX
but at 500 bucks, Im gonna be eating saltines and stolen ketchup packets from Mc'Ds for months
Ive been told about other brands of compatible flashes such as Metz

What are your thoughts? Any recommendations that you are fond of?
Thanks

 

[sheeep]

Sigma flashes won a bunch of awards this year, try them out.

If you go old(er)school, see if you can find a vivitar 285hv. I use non hv's off camera, and they have all the settings I could ever need, sans TTL.

 

[Dizkoteck]

Ive looked at a few sigmas, they look pleasing, especially the price
And I heard Metz kicks ass as well.

Anyone happy with one over the other here? I like to make my first purchase after some good questioning and research, Thanks

(oh and sorry about posting as Pepsi35, my password didnt work so I thought my acct was deleted and made a new one. Turned out one of my keys was broken)