Go with neutral. It is better to see at close to mid-range because there is less glare. The pleasing color rendition is another bonus.
If you haven´t tested neutrals yet, take one now.
You're gonna come across a bunch of CW lights eventually. Pretty much everything you buy on eBay will be CW. Bunch of REALLY good cheap C8 XR-Es are very CW at 6k or something. You can get those anytime.
NW is harder to come by. For a good light you buy once in a while, since you have the option, treat yourself and go for neutral.
Back when this forum was new , the only tint avilable in budget lights was cold white . As the forum grew and members grew numerous , there began to be a shift towards higher priced lights . Very few truly budget lights are reviewed and or discussed anymore . It's the evolution of the forum .
Many of the lights available now from the better vendors have a choice of tints . Some of these could be considered budget lights , but the focus has shifted from purely budget lights to lights that are a good value .
New flashaholics will always want bright at all costs , later their tastes mature and other factors such as beam profile and tint become more important .
Yeah, same with me... no more very cool whites (1X tints) here, but 2X tints are ok.
The tint color should be chosen depending on what or where the light will be used.
As another BLF member mentioned, the cool white is typically used for thrower lights. Neutral are great for close by distances or flood as it does not overwhelm the object/color being looked at.
Go for the neutral tint, unless you need every possible lumen for seeing stuff way out.
>>>>>Ask 10 people here with that kind of question and you will get 15 different answers! LOL
Now there is the best answer so far! 
Thanks to everyone for their help. Usually I’m lucky to get one answer to threads I start, so I’m secretly happy that this churned up so much interest. As I really couldn’t find a discussion about the best/preferred tint, this thread will be great for others trying to make a similar decision.
Every time I’m about to go with the NW, someone else chimes in and makes me feel like I should go with the u2!
The Xin isn’t the priciest light, but it’s definitely above the sure-is-cheap budget light cost of $18-$22. So I do want to get the right tint. I wish I had bought a cheapie NW light before this so I could just see for myself, although I suspect I have some NW lights now that I understand from this thread what they look like.
Does anyone have an actual K value on the two tints? Which is actually closest to daylight? I am a phographer …. well, I use to be a pro photographer. Thank heavens I’m not any more, but I usually tend to gravitate toward indoor-lighting tints that are close to daylight, although high-noon fluoresecent can look a little blue to some.
See the chromaticity chart here: Cree - Flashlight Wiki
To reiterate, it would be a crying shame to not get a nice light like the XinTD C8 in T6 3C. It’s an all-rounder anyway (merely a mid-range thrower) and if you’re after serious throw (enough to be quibbling over which tint is best in that context) you’d be looking at a different light
I am not sure what kelvin spec the 3C tint is… but you can get a relative feel for it on the citycat M6 white wall images. here…
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1483
Hypnotoad says ... You ... must ... buy .... neutral...
I may try one more, but I’m no longer as enthused with neutrals as I once was. Cool is better and brighter - and yes, it looks it - but the key is to stay around that 6k range. 7 is getting too blue (which I also hate). My advice is, go the opposite of that tasty gut feeling—buy the opposite. But for throwing use, definitely cool.
No way, not any more.... NW TN31 coming here 
I would also point out, that I feel like I´m getting much more today for, say, about 20$ than 2 years ago.
I think, that the absolutely cheapest lights today are so bad price/quality compared to few bucks more expensive ones, that they are not worth much discussion :D
Couple years ago the medium tier products didn’t exist. It was either $50+ a pop or $10 crap. This forum started as a place to filter out the least crappy of the latter.
As for “yellow” neutrals, you don’t really notice it in actual use and still better than life-less CW.
I'm liking the U3 1C's I got in 2 lights now (HD2010 and a Sipik SK73). Not as neutral as a T6 3C but definitely more neutral than a 1A and it's the top bin right now in brightness/lumens. Crelant is listing their 7G5CS w/U3 1C as 920 lumens - the U2 1A is 895 lumens, close, but the U3 1C has some of those neutral characteristics.
I am going by actual measurements on a SkyRay King NW (1700 lumens) and CW (2200 lumens). Also measurements (and published specs) on the same Bridgelux arrays in NW and CW tints. In the real world expect a 20% lumen hit for a NW light vs a CW light.
CW TN31 U2 1147 lumen
NW TN31 T5 970 lumen
so 15% loss there.
EDIT:
NW TN31 T6 1050 lumen
only 8.5% loss.
For the TN31's, are both T6 or is the CW a U2?
And you’re certain that both of those Kings use T6 XM-Ls, and that they are being driven identically?