I have a Tasco that is a copy of the Steiner manual rangefinding one (I think its called the Commander or Mariner or something). Exact functional copy with ranging recticle, internal compass, and internal light (powered by a watch battery). It has a sliderule-type ring on one of its objective bell that aids in calculating distance. Surprisingly, it actually works very well.
Given a known or estimated height of an object, e.g., the height of the shoulders of a deer or the height of a man, you find what hashmark the object is on the recticle and calcualte distance with the ring. IIRC, it cost me <$300. They have coated lens models now for a little over $300 I think.
As for the laser range finder ones, the articles I've read indicate that the much higher ended ones are the most accurate ones. The reason being that they put out a tighter laser pattern. A broader pattern that the lower end ones have spreads the laser over a larger area and could cause the detector to pick up a reading closer or farther than the intended target. Unfortunately, those higher end models, generally from Europe, are well above $1K.