how do they do in heavy snow? I've tried the expensive rainx single blade ones. They honestly sucked. Just didn't do the job. I end up getting the cheap ones and they work just fine, not great but better than others. Guess its one of those things you just have to test before you find one that works best.
For me, heavy snow has never been a problem with any wiper blade - its the cold and ice that really challenges them. I live in wisconsin so I have to deal with it quite a bit. The old school framed blades would freeze up and even worse, the iceburgs froze on the inside and actually around the frame/spring assembly deeming them useless. Worse than that, it was hard to remove that ice without destroying the wiper blades. On the new-style beam blades, first off the ice doesn't form nearly as much. Secondly when it does, one or two snaps up and down on the windshield and it completely removes the ice, putting them back up to great performance. In my opinion - substantial improvement in ice and cold performance.
As far as noise, I only get noise when I first start operating my vehicle, its below freezing and the temperature of the vehicle is not at operating temperature. (all these combined, otherwise they're quiet as a mouse) Once the ice is completely melted on the glass and there's a little bit of water to lubercate things, they're quiet as a mouse. Now, that may be blade design or it may be the teflon on the NeoForms that keep them quiet - I don't know.
Don't assume these things are expensive. Is $25 shipped to your door expensive? If so, then they are expensive. If not, that's what top-of-the-line costs with the rebate and coupon I mention above. Considering the performance of them compared to my original wipers - Its cheap, especially since it increases my enjoyment of driving.
Lastly - when I was researching, the rainx latitudes are the most loved/hated blades on the market. A lot of people have problems because they're more curved and more ridgid than most beam blades. I've also heard reports of the adpaters not fitting properly leading to binding and poor performance. This makes them succeptable to poor windshield contact and thus poor performance in some cases.
Wow - I think I had too much coffee this morning!! LOL
