This guy has a good site:

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/

And he has a forum there called "the tank". If you post a question he will answer it. Lots of good info. You can extend the life greatly by flushing and regular inspection of the anode rod (and replacement when needed). It is actually a little tricky but you can get the thing to last a long time if you want to. He sells a replacement drain valve kit but you can get a ball valve from Home Depot. The little valve they put on at the factory is a toy basically and doesn't drain very well.

I bought a GE from Home Depot and I think it was actually made by Rheem but I could be wrong. It has the anode rod as a seperate piece and that's what I wanted. I think the Bradford has the anode rod as part of the dip tube so it is a lot harder to inspect. But 99% of people don't ever check. (probably 99.9%).

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra