It really depends on what you are looking for in a knife.

I decided to buy a new knife recently and found that the best way to whittle down the choices was to first evaluate and decide on what features I wanted in a knife. Once I came up with specific selection criteria I could then start short listing designs, looking at manufacturer track records etc, to figure out what knife would best fit what I was really looking for.

During the process I did end up re-evaluating my criteria, adding some, changing others, etc, but ultimately it was deciding on the features I wanted that led to me choosing the knife I ultimately purchased.

As far as ESEE themselves, I've read nothing but good things about their knives. Personally, the 5 & 6 are too large and heavy for what I was looking for; the ESEE 4 and Laser Strike were a closer fit, but ultimately I wanted a stainless steel blade.

Regarding serrations , a plain blade was one of my selection criteria as I don't find serrations very useful in a wilderness blade, which is what I was looking for.