Wonder what he eventually got?

You can buy some great Ibanez guitars for not much money on e-bay. And I’m not talking about the fakes.

I got an SA160 flamed maple mahogony body for $300 with hard case, and I’ve seen them for less than that. I also got an RG270 for just over $100, looks like it’s never been played.

If you go for some of the Artcore stuff, you can pay big bucks, though.

Watch out for the fake Ibanez guitars, some of them look authentic, but there are lot of them about.
(I prefer Ibanez over Jackson)

For all I know those you already mentioned are fine guitars. What I was saying that if you had narrowed it down to those two, then the best thing you can do is go try a few examples and see what you like.

Personally I’m not a fan of either of those, but you must have your own ggod reasons for chossing those particular brands. The only real way to tell is to go along to a guitar store and try them out.