I bought a Sigma EF-500 off Ebay a couple of years ago, and it was fine until until I dropped it. Dropped once, broke once at the plastic foot. Now I have a Canon 580EX-II as it has a metal foot, much more robust and a wee bit more expensive. The 430EX-II also comes with a metal foot but is out of the price range but is a bit cheaper than the 580. I also have a $35.00 slave flash, again from Ebay which is OK and works well with Canon cameras but only syncs to 1/200.
So for general use I’d go for something really cheap, the $35.00 is limited, but OK, the Sigma was a good flash but too fragile. The 580EX-II is the dog’s danglies, but expensive.
What do you wantto use it for?
here might be worth a look, very trustworthy, I’ve bought several lenses from them.