The styling preferences are really a matter of opinion...to each their own taste, as they say. I was impressed enough back then to buy both, although I primarily purchased the Dragon on the basis of performance. The heads on both decks have very little wear, since most of my listening was done on the other 700ZXL and my Pioneer RT-701 reel to reel decks. The 700ZXL with the most wear was sold off, as was the Pioneer, leaving both remaining decks in excellent condition. Both have very little head wear, and both have all original boxes, packaging, etc., including the accessory pack and sealed tapes (for the 700ZXL). I also never played tapes from any other person's deck, as tapes can pick up contaminants that can increase head wear. Yes, I was one of "those" audiophiles...but except for the unavoidable belt rot, both decks are gems. Neither had been played much, if at all, since the beginning of the current millennium. Last time I turned them on, all the lights came on, but the tapes did not advance. At that point, I turned them off and checked the internet...found out about the belt rot issue...and unplugged them. Since my source is now an Esoteric X-01 Limited CD player, I'm torn about restoring either or both decks...
