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I can see the appeal of the camera. The 683 would be the one to get as it is closer in performance to the FLI.
I know the 8300 chip is pretty clean and you can "get away with" -20C but I image at -35C all year round with the FLI and often -40C.
As you say not a lot of difference but there is some. The fast downloads in the FLI etc are a plus but I would accept lesser cooling on the right chip for a built in offaxis guider. Not all chips though. You wouldn't do that with the KAF09000 for example.
Also as your chip ages it may develop vertical lines etc. These defects fade with more powerful cooling and are less of a problem. Then the advantage of the extra cooling becomes more useful.
Also if you use RBI control (only on FLI and Apogee) the extra cooling is important in reducing the extra noise the RBI control creates. Again with the 8300 you probably aren't experiencing significant RBI even though it is there but I wouldn't do a dark after imaging a glob or something. You may see it then. Do your darks as a separate imaging session - not after a series of light exposures unless you are using a KAI series chip.
Greg.
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