Manfrotto Tripod questions

[GreatMoloko]

I bought a cheap little sunpak/quantaray tripod from Ritz for about $60 bucks and being foolish and not paying attention to what I was doing with a Bigma (which I knew was too heavy for the thing anyway) I broke the screw that holds the quick release lever... so the thing is hosed. I put some duck tape around it for the time being and it works ok.... won't take my hands off the camera with it up there though... did I mention this happened in the first 5 minutes of a week at Yellowstone.. yeah, BIG suck...

Anyway, enough complaining.

I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a real tripod like I should have. So I've read lots of good stuff on these forums about Manfrotto's and I'm trying to stay under $200 which seems possible. With no real photo store in town to talk to, I need your help fellow DPS readers.

I've basically decided between these two legs
The 190XM or the 190 XDB

But I can't really figure out why the $35 price difference? Can anyone explain that? And do they look ok?

And I've settled on this ball mount Amazon.com: Manfrotto 494RC2 Ball Head with Quick Release Replaces Manfrotto 484RC2: Camera & Photo

I have a D60 and a 18-55 and 55-200 lens, so the weight should be fine.. even if I rent a bigma again. So does that mount look good as well?

I'm pretty much decided on doing this within a week because there is a big firework show and I've got great seats (which include an open bar and 20 craft beers) I just want make sure I'm buying something good.

Thanks!

[vsa]

The other is heavier and the center column probably can be reversed so you can shoot lower to the ground with camera upside down as the minimum height is 3.15 inches. Otherwise they seem identical.

And it seems the ballhead you're going for doesn't have the ability to revolve without loosening the ballhead itself (I could be wrong though). Might be an issue if you want to do more panoramas. It certainly can be done with anything but easier if you can just swivel the head around without messing with the ball.

I considered this very same setup a little while ago but decided to get a Benro Travel Angel for more portable solution.