Well, all points were considered, and after a valient attempt by the Mares rep to sway me over to a Carbon reg, followed by some time in the pool, I am the proud owner of an Atomic T2!!! That is a big step up from the SeaQuest XR2 that I have used for the first 12 years of my diving career. I got them to throw in a gift card with it (in place of the 20% off thtat they offered today) to get me a little more money towards the new BC that I will be getting as soon as I can check out the Scubapro SeaHawk. It is an exciting time. My girlfriend is trying out diving, so I have gifted my regulator, my computer, etc. to her, and I am upgrading to more of a "dream" set-up.
Excellent choice, you won't be dissapointed.