I own several different pairs of compression socks and just bought some more. I generally wear my compression socks to work as dress socks. Here are my thoughts:
2XU-I have two pairs and at $50 a pair they are in line with most of the sport compression socks being sold right now. The product is ok, but not great. These were my first compression socks I bought and had nothing to compare them with. I would say for sure they are better than nothing, but I believe there are better products on the market.
CEP-I have one pair and bought them last year at Ironman New Orleans. I think these socks are better than 2xU, based on how the compression works. I also like that the sock has more padding in the foot area. If money were not option I would have multiple pairs of these socks.
Futuro-After reading on Slowtwitch from people that in general the Tri industry is just ripping us off because you can buy medical grade compression socks at Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart etc for like $15-$20. I decided to finally go buy a pair. I went to CVS and I bought the Futuro Dress Sock for Men with firm compression 20-30 (whatever the unit of measure is). I wore them for the first time this past Monday and the product is great. The compression of this sock is very similar to CEP's. Everyone on Slowtwitch who said we were idiots for paying $50-$60 for compression socks was right. While I was at work on Monday I ordered 4 more pairs (2 Brown & 2 Blue) all my others are black. Anyway with Shipping I got 4 pairs for around $52.00. If there is a down side it's that these are like dress socks and they are thin. You will not want to race in these or walk around in shorts wearing these you will only look even dumber then everyone else walking around in compression socks. Here is a link to their website
http://www.futuro-usa.com/...9685XMgl031MNJVFF1bl Here is the on-line retailer I bought mine from:
http://www.alevalegs.com/...ens-dress-socks.html I like the CEP's and might buy 1 more pair sometime in the future, but for the most part the rest of the compression socks I buy will be these Futuro.
I hope this helps some.