Sully have you looked at Ereplacementparts.com and actually checked what the price of the parts for the planer would be? If you have the aptitude and the tools you might wish to go that route before purchasing a new planer. Porter Cable is ok however the company was recently added to the Black and Decker family of companies so it is not what it once was, much like the type 1 and type 2 Dewalt 788 scroll saws where the type 1 was built by the US and the Type 2 was built overseas to the lowest bidder. If you do decide to get a new one the Porter Cable would definitely do the job.
DW