For residential, I like the Murrays as well. The propriatary (spelling?) breaker configuration of the Square D's sometimes makes breaker replacement difficult in a pinch (after hours, weekends, etc.).
Also, they're well priced and are a good value for resi work. They have a very nice side-by-side 200A combo panel of which I've installed about 25 of over the last year or two (new builds and service upgrades). Haven't had a problem, and they have the neutral bus in the right place for AFCI's and GFCI's. You can also easily add a neutral bus bar to run along all the branch breakers if the new AFCI requirement passes for '08 (which, as far as I've heard, looks pretty likely).
Do yourself and your folks a favor though - please have a licensed &/or certified EC perform the service upgrade. Although you sound like you have a pretty good grip on the lingo, a lot of things can go wrong and none of us want to see anybody get hurt.
