I think it's well worth the $60. Having both floppy and smart media is beneficial. The 3500 will give you individual left and right output for connecting to an amp. The 3000 uses the headphone jack as the output jack this can compromise sound output quality. The 3500 will also give you a modulation wheel as opposed to a button on the 3000. The button will not give you the same level of control as you'd have on the 3500 using a wheel. If you want to hook up to an amp it's better to have separate left and right output...