[TriLUG] ibm a-series versus m-series for a server?

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

i need to upgrade my old 350MHz 256MiB aptiva server to something
with rather more oomph.  being an ibmer, i can get ibm hardware at
a slight discount, and my experience with h/w is that it has been
rock-solid, so that's my preferred path at this point.

however, ibm's employee purchase programme only extends to desktops
and laptops, no rack-mounted 'real' servers.  that's fine; i don't
mind using a tower.

and unfortunately the specs make it a little difficult to compare
models.  there seems to be the ThinkCentre A-series and the M-series
that might be good for my purposes.  the NetVistas don't seem to have
the memory expansion capacity i'd like.

so far i haven't been able to see any real difference between the
A-series and the M-series to account for the higher price of the
latter.

does anyone here have any experience with these, or recommendations?
-- 
#ken	P-)}

Ken Coar, Sanagendamgagwedweinini  http://Golux.Com/coar/
Author, developer, opinionist      http://Apache-Server.Com/

"Millennium hand and shrimp!"