Hardware vs software base station

[John O'Brien]

I want to start using AirPort on my 1GHz TiBook but am unsure of the 
relative merits of hardware and software base stations. If I buy a new 
Apple base station I'll have AirPort Extreme for use with future Macs, 
but for not much more money I could get an older AirPort-equipped Mac 
to use as a software base station — and that gives me a second Mac to 
use.

Which would y'all recommend?