Between the 038 and 038 special, I would take the special. It has a larger piston and more power. I had a coworker that both saws and I liked the 038 Super better. Good saw, good power, not bad to work on. I ended up having to split the case on the 038 Super to replace the bearings and was a quick and easy process. My coworker was using 28" bars on the saw and that made them a little front heavy, if using a lot, I would probably put a 24" bar on it. Parts are still plentiful.