After weeks of anal-retentive research and examining the issue from every possible angle, I finally grabbed that lever and gave it a good yank. Today, I ordered an Oneida V3000 cyclone. Anna took excellent care of me, threw in the remote control and a little extra to sweeten the deal on top of the current shipping discount. Between lead time and shipping, I should have it in a couple of weeks.
So far, I'm very impressed with Oneida as a company. Hopefully the product will be just as impressive!
D.