I can't speak to new models on the showroom floors but Fleetwood/Colemans on the used market are usually pretty good units if you find one to suit your tastes. Somerset (
http://somersetrv.com/) is sort of the indirect lineage of Fleetwood these days. Many of the floor plans and construction are direct descendants of Fleetwood.
Coachmen, Palomino and Flagstaff/Rockwood are owned by ForestRiver and are having mixed results with the quality that actually hits the sales lots recently. It's a matter of working through the warranty on any issues as is all too common in the industry right now. Otherwise, there are some really great floor plans.
In an effort to simplify, the less you get on the PUP, it seems to reason that there would be less to deal with. This CAN be the case, but not always.
We went from a great but pretty basic PUP to a high wall with everything except a slide-out. I found that my set up time is less now with the high wall because so much of what I had to set up is actually included. On board storage is about triple what I had so I have left to shift around just during set up and then throughout the camping period. But that's my experience.
You still have to crank it up (manually or electric motor/cordless drill), pull out the bunk-ends, put down the stabilizers, make the electrical/water/sewer connections (if equipped), fire up the water heater regardless of the PUP.
There are alternatives to the standard canvas type PUPs.
One example would be something like the A-frame hard walled, fast setup type of PUPs. It would certainly be a step down in interior space but for setup, is hard to beat. Some manufacturers are A-Liner, Chalet, Flagstaff has a series of hard walled folders, and some others I can't recall.
Then there's the collapsible type of hard walled RVs such as HiLo and TrailManor. These are all hard wall construction and have amenities like a traditional TT but still do collapse down for a low towing wind profile.
If you find some specific models, feel free to post back with questions on them. There are model years to avoid due to manufacturing and quality control issues but it's too difficult to just list everything out as such.
I would start at a dealer that a couple of models opened up for display and you guys sit in them and imagine running through camping in them to give you a feel. BTW, both of my PUPs have been through Craigslist even though the second one was a dealer listing.
Good luck and happy hunting.
