Thanks for all the replies! This is great information.
I'm still searching.
From what I am seeing here it seems that in general most of these gliders in the late '70s early '80s era are roughly the same. Without trying to start a debate, maybe a bit of an edge going to the 20 or Ventus, with the caveats mentioned in the discussion.

I am not as concerned about manual VS automatic hookups. Obviously I would prefer automatic hookups. Who wouldn't? However the reality is in my price range I have to look at gliders that fall into both categories. I'm a software engineer and am very process deliberate, and to me having manual hookups means always being diligent in the process of putting the glider together.. Manual hookups do not make the glider less safe, you just have to diligently follow the assembly process, checklist, and positive control check every time. If you get distracted, double check everything, restart the assembly checklist from the beginning and re-check every fitting, every time. Then do a positive control check, again.

Having read this thread over from top to bottom a few times, as well as some private discussions, I've narrowed my search down to roughly 4-5 candidates, unless something new comes on the market in the next couple of weeks.

My main criteria now is finish and quality of the aircraft, trailer, and instrumentation. I'll just have to start doing some traveling and looking at aircraft. Right now my candidate list are a DG 200, a DG202, 2 LS3's, an ASW20, and maybe a Ventus, but I am still thinking about the Ventus due to conflicting opinions I am getting on that aircraft. Some say it's great, others not so much.

I was thinking about starting a thread on GPS displays and Flarm. i.e. If I get a glider without a GPS display such as an Oudie, or no Flarm, what are my options for updating at a reasonable cost?
I will want a transponder, at least Mode C, as I plan on getting back to Minden for some wave flying. (I went to 23.5k feet in the wave at Minden once, and have had several flights in the wave over 17k feet.)

Thanks again for all input, I do appreciate it.
Mike