Any thoughts on this?

Automatic +
Hill Descent Control
Hill Start Assist

Manual +
Lower cost
More fun?

Are HDC and HSA that good? I have no experience with those.

You just hit the nail on the head.

And I do believe the electronic do-dads have worked pretty well so far, though mostly I'm getting that from magazine reviews which don't exactly tackle tough terrain. My '01 isn't blessed with any electronic wizardry such as that, so I've not experienced it first-hand yet.

Let me guess, you're having a real hard time deciding between the two?

Forget about the HDC, the manual in a sense already has that, it's called downshifting. If you are good at starting out on a steep hill then forget about the HSA also and get the manual.

Sure would like the save the money!