What would you say is the cheapest 14" TOTO, or best bang for the buck? Seems to be a few models to choose from.
Right. Most of the skirted Totos will be able to go on 14" with the Unifit adapter. And you are correct, they will stick out much less in the room because the adapter allows them to fit properly on 14", rather than be a 12" toilet with a deeper tank to give the illusion of being made for 14".
Terry has some photos on here showing the sitting position on a Unifit-mounted Toto 14" vs another brand, and it's significant. Well, it's two inches!
Click Here to see Terry's photos and a description of the unifit Some of the models in that list have been discontinued, but the ones shown in the photos are still available.
The least expensive one that will go on 14" is, I believe, the Vespin II, which is basically a Drake II with a skirted bowl that fits over the Unifit Adapter (They both use the same tank.) Model CST474CEFG. This is a truly excellent toilet: great build quality, great flush, good bowl wash, universal height, CEFIONTECT stain-resistant finish, straightforward parts that you can replace when the time comes with Korky parts that you can get at HD or Lowe's. (Korky makes many of Toto's parts, but you can buy them under the Korky brand at the Big Box.)
All the skirted models come with a 12" adapter in the box, which you would throw away because nobody needs an extra. You would buy the TSU01W.14 Unifit, which you can find if you look for $50-60.
Toto makes a great seat for this toilet, the SS114, which is a nice, very solid plastic seat with slow-close hinges, but the toilet has standard mounting hole locations so it will take a Bemis or Mayfair or whatever seat you like. The color match is probably best with the Toto seat, and the aesthetics are probably a bit better, but we have two Totos with Mayfair wood slow-close seats that we like very much, and one with the SS114 that we like a little better.
As I advise everyone, if you are purchasing the toilet, call around and do some research because the prices locally vary very widely. I would pull out the yellow pages and call five different merchants listed under "plumbing supply" and give them the exact model number and color you want.
Good luck and come back with any questions.