4 shots from a 44, no less no more???
Seriously, I think it all depends on how deeply you want to get into flash photography. jmdeegan has some good points about the Vivitar 285HV. Certainly, if you're planning to go the Strobbist route the 285 is a good choice. I have one, and plan on getting another one. But I also have a Pentax AF360 FGZ which I don't regret having purchased, and have no plans to discard. The beauty of the 360 and the more expensive 540 is you don't have to think. Put it on the camera, turn it on in the P-TTL mode, and enjoy the party. The flash does all the thinking for you. Also these strobes offer high speed sync which the 285 doesn't. This means you can take satisfactory pictures of back-lit subjects. This can also be done with the 285, but it's considerably more complicated. You might want to go to
www.strobist.com and study the material there at length before investing your money and then maybe later regretting it.
CN