Looking for best option to prevent friend bees and to keep moisture down in the winter months ... although I very much appreciate the diy ideas I would just like to buy something for my first year first time beekeeping until I have a better understanding of everything
I have built them in the past and they are EXTREMELY finicky. So unless you are good at woodworking buying is not a bad idea. As far as top feeders go I don't think it really matters. I personally buy whatever I don't build from Mann lake. You will find it useless for winter moisture. Your profile indicates that you live in New York. I use a ventilated shim and mountain camp dry sugar. If you've never heard that term before, you put down newspaper over the top box and then dump dry sugar on top of that. As the winter progresses the dry sugar absorbs moisture and gets rock hard. Between that and the ventila hole you will find cold as your biggest enemy not moisture. The sugar is an excellent backup resource as well. It can be removed in spring if not used and turned into sugar syrup. Hope that helps.
For top feeder I just use a mason jar over inner cover. During winter, I add a 1" shim on top of hive and install a sugar brick to my hives that are a little on the light side. Making the brick is easy. About 6-8 oz water to a four lb. bag of sugar. It should be the consistency of damp snow. It is better dry then wet. Even an extra ounce of water will make it hard to dry out. Mix and form it into your brick shape(about 1' thick) and let dry. I would advise against any liquid feeding during winter. The bees can't get rid of the excess moisture.
I believe this is what he was talking about.
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/shop-all-categories/hive-colony-maintenance/feeders/top-feeders/10-frame-top-feeder-with-super
These are the plans I used to build some.
http://www.instructables.com/id/No-Drowning-Hive-Top-Feeder/
I believe it was Michael bush who suggested to seal with fiberglass resin.
https://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/automotive-marine-hardware/automotive-tools-shop-equipment/bondo-reg-fiberglass-resin-qt/p-1444421738266.htm
This worked quite well for me. I have used some inverted jars (not much), frame feeders, and top feeders. Frame feeders are nice but a pain to refill. They can hold a lot of feed, which is nice. Jars can only hold so much, bees seem to take slow, and can leak. Jars however are cheap and readily accessible. Hive top feeders are nice because they can hold a lot of feed. I work a lot so that is a big plus. Bees can also take down a lot of feed quickly if needed. Their downside is they are expensive to buy and difficult to build.
So in general there is no right or wrong answer, except for entrance feeders. Entrance feeders are always wrong. So do what works best for you.
Edit-one more thing use gorilla glue. The stuff is waterproof and expands when curing. So it seals up any gaps in the feeder. Use the original as shown in link.
https://www.menards.com/main/home-decor/office-supplies/adhesives-tape/glue/wood-glue/2-oz-original-gorilla-glue/p-1444431530677.htm