The base version of Notepad++ (whichever version) has always worked fine (I always download the latest portable version though). In my personal experience NP++ does sometimes mess up with a combination of plug-ins. These plugins by themselves work fine, just the combination of them doesn't always work as advertised.
Because of that I tried the beta from Sublime text editor. This is also a very, very nice text editor, but that one is not free (although the version I tried at the time can be used indefinitely). Still, NP++ keeps drawing me back as it feels the most 'natural' to me.
I tried to use a portable Windows version of GVim, but that one didn't feel right to me. However, I do think it is a very capable text editor. And when you try GVim (or Vim), I also took a look at the portable Windows version of EMacs. But that has the same "problem" as GVim. But also here I can say that this is a very capable text editor.
All in all, the power (and 'simplicity') of Notepad++ cannot be beaten (in my point of view). I think all went "wrong" with me when I used CygnusEd on Amiga. That was (and still is) a favorite of mine.