I like Cryptonite for its features:
http://cryptonite.info/?page=features- Mini-Blockchain: scalable, no blockchain bloat, less disk space consumption on nodes
- Micro-transactions & Messages: with no worries for blockchain bloat
- Withdrawal Limits: helps to prevent double spending and increases confidence in low-confirmation transactions, 0-confirmation transactions become safer in the right conditions
- Unmalleable Transactions: achieved by having the sender sign the txid and by ensuring the txid will always change when the contents of the transaction changes
but mostly because devs are very visible and active and IRC inspiring confidence in continued development and support for the coin.