Hey Mr bean I have a 620 is a great brush. Took me a couple of shaves to realise you have to get most of the water out before using a hard soap, cause boy for its size does it holds a lot.
Ok, it is 90p more than your ideal limit with postage still to add on top but it is a lovely brush and a good size. Omega boars really are fantastic brushes and I've never had a shedder. Can't get better service than Connaught either.
Another vote for either of these brushes. 31064 is a great brush as is the 404. You will not be disappointed with either of them. I also removed a knot from an Omega 49 and that also is a great knot for the money.
Picked up my 404 from the post office this morning. Was surprised it didn't fit through my letter box until I saw it was packaged in a relatively huge box and padded out with the Sunday Express colour supplement so it wouldn't fit through.
It has a nice weight, is much softer than I was expecting and the knot is smaller than I was expecting, possibly smaller than I'd like, but we'll see. Looking forward to the morning..
I put a few test lathers through it before using it, if nothing else to try and subdue the smell - yuck!
It's nicely dense and the feel is generally slightly softer than that of my bristle brush, quite like you might expect it to really. The soft edge does remind me of a horrible floppy brush I had many years ago but it's not floppy, not at all. It lathers like a demon, even this early in the game it holds just about enough lather and water for 3 passes. I don't find it at all scritchy, but then I'm used to a straight boar brush.
Apart from the smell there's no real downside so far, I'm very impressed.
I've used it with Edwin Jagger Menthol soap & Ingram cream.