SolidIris announced that Thea will be going to Release 1.0 on February 21. This means that the 45 percent discount will be going away soon.
Anyone considering a V-Ray quality engine should really take a look at Thea. It is well supported with a Blender 2.5x importer. It has both biased and unbiased modes and there are a ton of ready made, free materials (see this thread: http://www.thearender.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=3070 )
Thea can be evaluated for free.