You have heard some snippets of good as well as some wrong info. Sadly, many people in showrooms really don't know their products, and/or they have a reason to steer you to one over the other. You can look on this site and find literally hundreds of reviews of almost any Toto model. And Terry has installed literally thousands upon thousands of toilets, and is right in the line of fire for customer feedback. So you have come to the right place.
The original Drake has a great flush. They still sell it. It's a great value at around $200-ish, ten percent either way, street price. It flushes well in the 1.6gpf version (CST744S) and the 1.28gpf version (CST744E). However, it's not a skirted toilet.
The Drake II is also a great value, in that it has as standard equipment a number of upgrades. CEFIONTECT, Double-Cyclone Flush (where there are no little holes in the top of the toilet rim to clog, but rather two jets that swirl the water around in the bowl before flushing), and Universal Height are all standard. It's the number one selling toilet on a big commercial web site, and gets rave review after rave review. CST454CEFG. The Drake II also comes in a different-looking 1.0gpf version, the Drake II 1G (CST454CUFG). U for "ultra"-low water consumption. Fewer people have reviewed that, but every one I have seen has been positive. Don't expect amazing bowl rinse, but most people say it's remarkably good. That said, many early adopters are going to be focused on the low consumption more than whether it's a perfect mainstream toilet as far as bowl wash.
The Drake II is not a skirted toilet. However, Toto makes a skirted toilet that is essentially identical to the Drake II, called the Vespin II. That's one of the ones that Terry owns and likes. CST474CEFG. The Vespin II doesn't come in 1.0gpf.
If you like the skirt for aesthetic purposes, rather than because you want to mount toilet on an odd-sized rough-in, then the skirted Aquia is an excellent toilet. I think Terry's experience with it, over multiple hundreds of installations, where customers order one, then order another, then order another, pretty much says it all. The folks who buy this toilet because they want a skirted dual-flush are happy with it. Period.
I don't know who or where you heard that an Eco (watersense 1.28) Toto should be avoided. Most of the knowledgeable posters on here say that there is no material difference in performance between the two. Also, knowledgeable folks on here know how to convert a 1.28 to a 1.6 if they ever feel the need to. I know a lot of our participants who bought the 1.28 thinking that they could modify it if they had to, only to decide that there was no reason to do so. So "avoid the Eco" is a garbage comment.
We have the one-piece Carlyle II, which is basically a skirted Ultramax II. To say we love it is an understatement. Very nice looking, flushes great. (We also have a couple of original Drakes, which look nice and perform flawlessly.)
Regardless of whatever MAP scores any of these toilets have, you really can't go wrong with any Toto that has a 3" flush valve, which is basically any Toto over $200. So don't agonize. Pick the one that you think will best fit your needs, and you will be happy with it. It really is that simple.
(That said, I really haven't seen too many reviews of the Maris. It does have a new-style flush valve, operated by chains from the handle. But that shouldn't affect the flush. It should be similar to the Aquia. But if you want to go with the known quantity, get the Aquia.)