I ordered a SO 39i in January. I had a look at a number of differnet
boats and concluded that the SO 39i was the right boat for me for a
number of reasons. I had a look at the Beneteau but I did not
seriously consider this boat as in my veiw this is more of a comrtable
floating caravan than a quality sailing boat. I have done a lot of
sailing (racing) and with a young family I wanted a cruising boat that
also sails well and that can be handled shorthanded without the clutter
in the cockpit or racer cruisers (like a mainsheet track throught the
Cockpit and proimary winches that cannot be reached from the helm
position. The SO39i will sail better than the Benetau but which is
probably just as comfortable. In my veiw you do pay a hefty premium
for the Beneteau name which you do not so much with Jeanneau. Also
Jeanneau build quality is famous and has a far better reputation than
beneteau, althougbh now there should not be any issues with either boat
on the hull. The other swaying factor is the above deck gear. It is
very easy to focus on the hull but the Jeanneau 39i has Harken deck
gear and a Selden mast. I don't know what the Benetau comes with but
the biggest issue that Benetau has in my veiw is the lack of attention
paid to the above deck stuff.

The 39i also carries its beam all the way aft, this makes for a bigger
cockpit area and a powerfull hull shape - good for reaching!

The other boat which I seriously considered was the Hanse 400. This
looks like a great boat with more choice of interios layout and rig
etc. The reason why I chose the Jeneau over this boat was the fact
that Jeneau build quality is better and I like the twin wheel set up of
the 39i.

Other boats I considered we

Grand Soleil 40 - very nice, but more of a racer cruiser and a bit more
expensive.
Dufour 38.5 Grand Large - very nice but more exepnsive and I prefered
Jeneau build Quality

If you can speak German, there is a yacht test of the 39I on
http://www.yacht.de - the headline is "Complete Package". This German
magazine also has a number of other tests for other boats in the
similar category.

In my veiw it is a no brainer if you are considering the SO39i or the
Oceanis 39 - The SO 39i is a better boat and it is 30k cheaper - but I
am biased!!

Cheers
James