+1 on the aesthetics argument. Who but Campy would sculpt this beauty just to make it look "right"?
[IMG]

[/IMG]
[IMG]

[/IMG]
Like DIM I really like the 7700 series of DA components, but for me that was the last time Shimano really cared what their parts looked like. It's a very rebuildable series (the miniature bearings in the brakesets are awesome to behold), but as said above they'll be getting scarcer. Since then they really cut their finishing costs with the machined or black coating, and that huge crank would be a visual sin to put on a bike with normal sized tubes. Campy still puts out all-aluminum stuff that looks great hung on steel frames.