new amp, under $200 bucks, which one?

So, I was thinking of buying meself a new amp since my old behringer died like a sore bitch. Something small, for practice mostly and under $200 bucks. I am strongly considering a Line 6 spider II, the 30watter and from what I've heard this overprocessed effect toy is pretty good. I'm playing mostly metal, 80's metallica, slayer-ish, kreator and maybe some cradle of filth therefore distortion is a big deal to me but I don't mind softening up from time to time and play some clean tunes.
Are the marshalls within this range any good? Cause I've heard the 15watter with effects is not all that great...

any suggestions, fellow shredders?

Do your absolute damndest to get a Marshall DFX100 second hand from E-Bay if necessary. The amp itself is quite reasonable new - $350 to $400 in the shops so you should get a second hand for about $200. The tone is Marshall all the way and the built in effects are very nice indeed. Another thing, it's 100 watts which is more than enough for playing with a drummer. There are loads of amps out there but I just think the DFX100 is the best value for money, it's a bloody Marshall after all;-)

Just noticed that you like shred and 80's metal... man this amp is perfect for that. I just used it in the studio mic'ed up with a SM57, cranked to about 8 to hit the sweet spot and the sound was amazing. There is no need to use any distortion pedals with this baby. It's got a very tight sound, even when I plugged in my 7 string on a high gain setting for rhythmic chops (tight inthe Marshall but it fell apart when I played it through my Mesa rig). I used to only use it for jamming and was a bit of a Mesa snob but I have new found respect for this amp following my recent session. If you're interested in the sound let me know and I'll PM you when I post the track later this week.

I think the Spider II is your best bet. Like you I haven't heard good things about the Marshall DFX. The Spider is quite versatile. You can get a number of tones out of it and the effects aren't bad at all. I've been plenty happy using mine to record. To me I don't see how there could be anything better for $200 and under.

The Spider is a nice amp too but it just doesnt do it for me (just a personal tone thing). There's just something about a Marshall amp that you can't reproduce anywhere else, but that all depends on whther you like the Marshall tone. My advice try both in a shop, then hunt E-Bay for as long as it takes to get the best deal.

To tell you the absolute truth, I have never trusted e-bay, I see it as a lottery so it's really hard to know when you're gonna get good gear and when you're gonna get ripped off but then again I've never tried it so maybe and most probably I'm just full of ****. If the marshall can get me a good distortion and has a decent clean channel then I'm all for it but I'm really looking for a new one under $200 that's worth jack.

Anyone out there with experience with VOX, peaveys and/or crate's under $200?