I think your choice of plasma cutters will depend largely on your intended purpose. If you are a hobbyist and on a budget, it doesn't make sense to drop a lot of cash on a "name brand" plasma. You won't go through enough consumables to make up the difference in price even if they do last longer in the more up to date machines. If you plan on using this daily for business purposes where a cleaner cut or longer lasting consumables might equal more money in the bank, and the expense is a tax write-off, I can see buying something higher end.
I looked up the cost of consumables for the Hypertherm's 45. $17.25 for 5 nozzles and $33 for 5 electrodes. The consumables for my PP50 cost $27.99 for 5 electrodes and 14.99 for 5 nozzles. Pretty easy to see how a better torch setup could reduce the cost of consumables in the long run, IF you are using it a lot, as in a business. The Hypertherm 45 costs $1650 (all the hypertherm prices I got from Harris Welding) The PP50 costs $799 - 20% for TBN members = $639. That's a difference of $1011. Hard to see how, at least for a weekend hobbyist, that it's worth over the cost of a whole second plasma cutter to step up to the name brand. For the cost of the 45amp Hypertherm, you could have Everlast's top of the line 100amp machine and put $100 back in your pocket.