I use a cast iron pan for cooking steaks with very high heat. Very nice but a pain to use for most other things compared to non-stick. A little more maintenance and care is required. I've had mine for 10 years now though so they last forever if not abused.
Cast iron gets my vote, but as mentioned a lot of care is needed to prepare them for use (seasoning) and for cleaning.
I've also got a frying pan from Le Creuset's toughened non stick range. There are expensive but definitely worth the expense: metal utensils can be used on the non-stick surface; the pans can be used on all heat surfaces; the non-stick surface is very thick and covers the entire pan making washing-up ridiculously easy. I've had this two years and it still looks new.
The only negative aspects I have found - apart from price - is there are quite heavy.
I also have a Tefal shallow fry pan. I find the non-stick surface excellent; its fairly light so easy to move around and a doddle to wash. No real negatives with this pan, but as its new I can't comment on durability.
To a degree you get what you pay for with frying pans especially non-stick, however, if you are prepared to forgo the ease of non-stick re. washing up, then cast iron or black steel pans trump the best of the rest.
Unlike newer nonstick pans that degrade with use, the much cheaper and extremely durable cast iron & black steel pans get better the more there are used. When these pans are "seasoned" a natural non-stick coating covers the pan that only gets better the more you use it and, of course, look after it. Its recommended that you don't use washing up liquid on these pans but rather scrub them in hot running water to preserve the season.
If the seasoning and washing precautions put you off cast iron, there's always the enameled cast iron pans/cookware. These have all the benefits of raw cast iron, heat retention etc. but can be washed in hot soapy water like any other pan.