I'll be a dissenting opinion. I recently removed a pair of Sram Centerline X rotors. They would get so hot on some of the long descents that I could splash water on them from my bottle and it would boil on contact. Not so much with my Shimano Ice tech rotors. I have the XTR MT900S rotors in one bike and the Dura Ace RT900 rotors on another. While these are certainly not cheap, a set of the Shimano RT 86 rotors will yield similar results without paying the extra for bling factor.
I have overheated solid stainless rotors before and suffered brake fade because of it. Its not fun when your brakes stop working while riding downhill. I've been an Ice Tech fan ever since.
But as you both said, the solid budget priced rotors certainly have their place for people who don't need the increased capability of the higher end rotors.