After having been very disappointed by a couple of high-priced irons over the years, I've become a big fan of cheap irons (especially Black and Decker) that I can throw away when they begin to fail. While I hate adding to the landfill, I feel better about ditching a $25 iron than a $50+ iron, and in my experience they fail at about the same rate.
That said, I've never owned a Rowenta, and I've never done a t-shirt transfer.