I own VSL Appassionata Strings, SE PLUS EXTENDED, and also have the Exploration HD which in effect has all VSL libraries. I also own LASS, and HS. For conistency in sound and control, sorry but VSL still kills the others. As far as work flow, VSL also gets my vote.
Hollywood Strings can sound lush but there all sorts of problems in loops, inherent noises built in to some of the samples (background noise- SLOPPY!), problems with RR, voice robbing, all these things effectively make it unusable to me on a daily basis. Sometimes I can get PLAY to play nicely but with HS in particular, it's a mixed bag. The cello legato sounds nice and the ability to control the level of vibrato is indeed a nice thing. However, let's be truthful here. Claiming that PLAY or HS does things as far as controlling the sound over VSL VI PRO is just not accurate.
I will reiterate a point that I feel needs to be underlined here. I attend concerts weekly. I'm very familiar with what a live orchestra sounds like also having some of my pieces played by real string players. VSL consistently sounds like the real thing, not a recording. EW stuff does sound nice but it sounds like a recording of a good orchestra, and not a live, real performance. Also, no one has competantly emulated the performance legato that VSL started with. Even project SAM, a company a love to death, has had some issues with their legato instruments on Symphobia 2.
It's really easy to get all gushy about the latest and greatest sound library. But for sheer workability, I use VSL more than any other library combined. I used it extensively on a recent documentary score and the composer I was working under (a fairly big player in LA) was so impressed with my cues and VSL, that he also bought up a bunch of VSL libraries. And this guy orchestrates and conducts orchestras every day.