Go with the AC Cheryl. They are cheap and easy to maintain. I've used biowheels before and as you have experienced, they do stop, but it doesn't break their function. What it does is decrease the bio surface area, as of course not all parts of the wheel are touching the water anymore. The reason you got the racket is because you removed the rubber tip which centers the impeller and keeps it from wobbling around and also prevent the metal from contacting the plastic.
The AC, as others have said, can be very flexible and you can add in anything you want. I ended up with only Biomax and 2 foam blocks in my AC. Just rinse the foam blocks in dechlorinated water once a week (discarded tank water will do just fine for rinsing) and you'll be good to go. They do sometimes make a racket also as they get older, and I didn't like the splashing noises, even with the water all the way up. I now run all canisters, but since you're not injecting CO2, it makes not a whit of difference to you, and the splashing will help with gas exchange anyway.
Another one to consider is the Rena Smartfilter (I have a used Smartfilter 20 if you're interested), but they are much bigger and more cumbersome to use. They do use the cartridge sleeves, which I rinsed out once a week and chucked out once a month (One of the two) to prevent clogging, but they have a lot less bypass then the AC's or Penguins or Emporers by design.
For the price, though, AC's can't be beat.