I have both types (came with our flatstock gear) and don't really mind either too much. I'm taking the "get more holders for cheap" approach to keep a variety of blades on hand and minimize swapping blades out.
Try replacing the hardware- nuts and bolts - on the older ones, might make a huge difference.
That new system M&R has is freaking sweet if you want easy changeover. Kwik change or something, can't remember what it's called. The holders aren't any more/less that others but there's a pneumatic machine you need to buy to use them. If they had a more affordable device to load/unload the blades I would invest in it but I can't really justify a $1k machine that just allows quicker blade changes, we dont' do it enough to see a good return on that.
