Hey 8notes! Euphboneman here. I'm a high school student who plays in high school concert band and my Jupiter intermediate model is ending its rental term. I'll need a trombone with a rich tone and responsive slide and would prefer for it to be underneath 1,500 dollars at the very most..

Any recommendations?

woah.. I found this interesting thing:
http://www.amazon.com/Cecilio-4Series-TB-483-Trombone-Super-Bone/dp/B00247LGFK

too bad their company looks incredibly sketchy..
can anyone confirm that their valved or slide trombones are somewhat good?

Cecilio? No way. I have a student who just bought one, and I played it...It was torture. The slide moved like sandpaper, and while I got a decent sound out of it, it took some effort. Granted, it was fresh out of the factory, and may have had some weird chemical crap on the slide that I couldn't remove by simply wiping it with a cloth, but I can't see it improving in the near future. I've never tried one of their valve trombones, but I expect that it would be roughly the same.

Anyway, It's possible that you could find a good, used Conn 88H if you look around, or possibly a Jupiter from the XO series. You might also consider looking at Bach 42Bs--with an open wrap. A reasonable, not-quite-professional horn for you could be a Getzen 747.
Anyway, that's just my two cents. But those are some names to start looking for.

Unless you're talking about the Eastman by Shires horns, I would run away as fast as you can from Chinese knockoff horns. They are getting much better these days, but they are just not up to par with the major American brands, which, unfortunately, are starting to slip these days.

In a few years, they will be more comparable, but not quite yet. I would stick with the majors, such as Bach, Getzen, Yamaha, Conn, Kanstul, King, etc. You can find them used for slightly more then the Chinese knockoffs, and they will not only work when you get them without the need to go directly to the shop first in order to be playable (seriously, probably 80% of those knockoffs need work immediately), but they will last much, much longer.

You should really go to a well stocked retailer and try some Trombones.

I've got a Conn 88H and I love it, because it fits me and my style of playing.

When I went to select a new Trombone I was lucky enough to get some help from a professional trombone player and we went to a store and just played everything they had there. I went through some King, Bach, Schilke trombones as well as the Conn 88H, HO and HO with Lindberg valve.
I played all of them and I listened to the other guy playing on the same once.

For me the Conn 88H came up on top, and with a Schilke mouthpiece I'm happy