well, I pulled the trigger today. thanks for the advice. FWIW, these were an ebay find and through Oct, there's 10% off...plus, if you use MS Live cashback, take an add'l 30% off. so it ended up being $170 (inc s/h) less $15 less $45. So, can't go wrong for $110. If it arrives in good condition, I might get another as suggested here.