Here's why you buy a good router.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,132630.0.htmlIf you skimp on a drill and it breaks, it probably won't kill you. Routers are a different story. Also, if something seems a little hinky, take a moment and think about the consequences of what you're about to do. Luckily the OP in that thread wasn't hurt, but he should never have used that bit with that baseplate. Any decent router will have optional baseplates, but you can also make your own in about 5 minutes to save a few bucks.
My go-to router is the DeWalt 611 which was linked by an earlier poster. I've got the combo kit, but it sees 99% of its use with the plunge base on it these days. This is the router I recommend to most people who are in the market. It'll do everything that the big ones will do, you just need to take a few more passes. It's full of features and not terribly expensive.
My Ryobi One+ cordless trim router is starting to steal a lot of time from the DeWalt. Anything that I might have put the fixed base on the DeWalt is typically done with the Ryobi. I've got their first green model. I'm planning on upgrading to the just-released green model tomorrow actually.
I've got a DeWalt 618 motor in my small router table and a Porter Cable 7518 in the extension on my table saw. The 618 sees more duty than the Porter Cable simply because I"m not the type who works in a sensible order, making all the cuts on the table saw and then all the cuts on the router. And while I can use a drill to quickly raise and lower the router through the table, it's a pain to hafta keep doing that as I go back and forth between using the saw and the router. And it's even more of a pain if I need to use the fence on the router. I really need to get the router fence attachment for my Incra system.
Anyone who's at least a hobbiest woodworker should have a router or two. It's one of those tools that you say, "Eh, I don't really need it. I wouldn't use it much." until you get it and discover all of the ways it can be used. Man, I wish that any of my local PBS stations were airing "The Router Workshop."