I am thinking about buying a mindstorms kit (I don't currently own one but I have used 1.0 at university) and I am a bit unsure as to the benefits of 2.0 over 1.0. I have seen other posts on the subject all saying generally 2.0 is better but I have some more specific questions about this that I can't seem to find any answers on.

Apart from the different lego pieces and sensors you get with the 2.0 kit, is there any difference between a 1.0 nxt brick and 2.0 nxt brick? From what I can determine from other sources, they are the same except for the firmware installed. Am I right in saying I could buy a 1.0 kit and install the same firmware that comes with the 2.0 kit and the bricks would be the same or is the 1.0 brick not compatible with the 2.0 firmware???

Also, I plan to use a different programming language like c or java so I need to install specific firmware for that anyway like librcx or lejos right? So if using c or java as opposed to the provided lego coding methods it doesn't matter if I am using 1.0 or 2.0 (except for the lego pieces in the kit) am I right?

In a nutshell, assuming I am using librcx or lejos and I don't care about the sensors and lego pieces included, is there any benefit to buying a 2.0 kit over the 1.0 kit?

Thanks in advance