I've been thinking about a new drill press for some time now and have narrowed down my research to 2 models. I was not in a particular hurry but suddenly realized that at this time of year I might get a better deal on the one I finally decide on, with some help from my fellow woodworkers. I am looking at the Delta 18-900L and the Powermatic PM2800. Both have similar specs in the areas that interest me. The Delta appears to be a solid machine and I haven't run across any bad reviews of it. I do like the idea of having a drill press with variable speed as I also do some metal working which, at times, involves drilling holes up to 1 inch diameter. The variable speed would make the process of stepping up drill sizes much faster. I remember reading that there were issues with the older versions of the Powermatic but I don't know if all of them were resolved in the current model. And , if they were, and I decided on the Powermatic how could I tell a newer version from the older one?