Aquaclears are good, but anything with a bio wheel wins hands down. The Emperor is probably the most popular hang on the back filter out right now, looking at an aquaclear and an emperor, others will say differently I'm sure but it would be hard to choose an aquaclear over an emperor.
And just for the record thats not work biased. I got laid off from Marineland a couple weeks ago. Not a real big deal but I dont get discounts anymore...it was a "when I have time" job.