My brood boxes are all deeps. They do get heavy and I have a hard time inspecting later in summer. I get around this by having a spare deep with me in the apiary. If I need to separate my boxes, I move some of the frames into the spare to lighten the box. Takes a bit more time, but helpful. And it's never a bad idea to have a spare around, for whatever reason!
As for foundation, I'm with you, so many choices! Personally, I use Duragilt. Straight forward, not a lot of fuss, easy to replace when needed. When I have a dedicated work space that does not involve the kitchen table or sharing space with garden tools, I'd like to try wiring wax foundation. But that's more because I'd like to know how to do it than because I might use it permanently. For every beek, there's a way..... :)