Hi Paul
You didnt say what max collet size or type of use you were interested in, so here are a few different options - all of which I use, or have used, & would happily recommend and buy again if I had to :-
For hand-held routing - a DeWalt DW621K (currently £159 at
DM Tools) - 1100 Watts, 1/4" collet, variable speed, soft start. The only disappointment with it was that the plunge range was very poor with the clear plastic dust guard in place - once that was removed it was fine & extraction didnt seem to be particularly compromised by removing it.
For table mounting - a Freud FT2200VCEK (currently £165 at
DM Tools) - 1900 Watts, 1/2" collet, variable speed, soft start. Loads of plunge capacity (3"). Not so suitable for hand-held use as, like most 1/2" routers, its a heavy beast & also doesnt have any safety interlock on the on-off switch, but ideal for mounting in a table.
My first router was a Bosch POF500 (currently £69 at
Toolshopdirect) - still in use for light duty table or hand-held use - 500 Watts, 1/4" collet. As it is easily dismountable from its plunge base & has a standard 43mm collar I'm thinking of using it in small special purpose jigs (variation of a Router Lathe etc type of thing). If I had to replace it I would probably look at the Trend T3 as its seems similar & quite a bit cheaper (currently £30 at
DM Tools).
Hope this is of some help
Richard