I've had my Pro-Ject 1.2 for about 10 years. I've been flirting with the idea of getting a better belt-drive 'table for a while but after breaking the cartridge leads I've been more serious.

Extra money is hard to come by these days so I did a little housekeeping and discovered that my homeowner's insurance has been gouging me for about a year. I switched companies, got a lower rate and a nice refund check from my mortgage escrow account ergo "the time is right".

Here are the contenders:

1. Rega P5 - prices have been slashed as much as $300 - 400 at reputable online dealers two of which I've done business with.
2. Rega P3-24 - on closeout to make room for the new RP3 (add power supply and the price is the same as P5).
3. Rega RP3 - newest version of the P3 that can be found at a decent introductory price by itself. Seems to lose a little value compared to 1 and 2 if you immediately add the power supply.
4. Pro-Ject RM5.1SE - this is the darkhorse 'table. It's priced the same as the P5, but it comes with a cart (not necessary but nice to have). Its all carbon fibre tonearm is intriguing as is its feet, shape and clamp.

My gut tells me to go for the P5 or I'll always wonder. My brain keeps tripping me up. I've almost eliminated the P3-24 because I'm convinced that I'll need the power supply which would bring the price to the P5's. With the P5, I believe I could wait on the power supply or do without it. Similarly, the RP3 may do fine without the power supply based on the one critic's review out there that compares the P3-24 w/psu to the RP3 without. Finally, I think if I could get the Pro-Ject without the cart and save a couple hundred bucks that that might be the way to go. Someone wanna give me more to think about? Seriously, I think I may be overanalyzing this.