Well, maybe I'm the exception, or maybe it's just because I have an Elite and don't have to worry about it, but I've alerady filled 20-25 GB or so of the HD space on my Elite in the 6 weeks I've had it. It is definitely nice to have the space. Sure, I could delete some old demos, but you know what? I don't have to, and that's a nice option. I think for only $80 more it is well worth getting the Elite. You also get the HDMI which might come in handy for any newer HDTV's. Mine has a DVI input so I could get an adapter and use that, but it was easier just to hook up component. I will be getting a newer HDTV sooner or later though along with an HD receiver and the HDMI will be nice for that.
Also, while there's no proof, yet, that the Elite is built any better than the older models, there is the possibility (I mean, it can't be *worse*). There were some comparison shots of the boards and while the components are mostly the same there are some definite differences that might be related to fixes for reliability. I forget the actual site, but they had nice comparison animations. You might want to search back to the threads that were around in this forum right before the Elite launched, or simply search the web for them.
As thrustbucket says, the 65nm chips are not necessarily the savior of 360 problems - they are simply a cost-saving move for MS that have the side benefit of less heat and that *may* result in less failures. They also won't make the system any quieter (my biggest complaint with it) since that is all disc drive noise. Some people seem to think this for some reason. I suppose they may need fewer or smaller fans for the 65nm chips, but, really, the system noise is insignificant compared to the drive noise, at least on my Elite. Maybe the Elite is quieter than a normal 360 when not running disc-based games. If so, that's another reason to get one.
But to answer your question, there is a site that did exactly what you are asking about (gutting/comparing) I just can't remember what it is
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