You are right, that is a lot of cash. I suppose what I'm thinking is that with the i7, I'll be able to upgrade bits and pieces of it down the road because it is buily on the modern socket and with the newer RAM. Whereas the C2 is at the end of its life. Certainly, the performance difference for my purposes is limited, it is more a concern for options in the future (I know your thoughts on future proofing). I plan to drop $100 or so on a set of cans, maybe. I have some now, but they are by no means good.