Taters, the motor upgrade is available from Elusive Disc, Music Direct, and VPI themselves. The upgrade is the motor only, not the housing and power cord. The $695 must have been for the complete assembly, which you don't need. There is also a motor/flywheel combo available for $900 which should be an even bigger upgrade than the motor alone. As for the original question, I think a used SDS would be the beter choice only because the platter/bearing/ring clamp/weight will probably have to be bought new (>$1000). The SDS comes up used quite often and are as cheap as $600.
