«For some reason I think it is odd that a mixed solution would work better than an all SMC solution, but an extra $20 for a speedy WEP 128 solution would be great. »
If you check the reviews at 
PracticallyNetworked, you'll see that cards with the Lucent chipset consistently outperform those with Intersil chips -- both with respect to range and WEP performance.   There are variations among the Intersil cards (LinkSys cards are awful) and I think the SMC are among the better ones, but the Lucent cards are better than all of the Intersil ones.  The APs don't seem to be affected as much, you can use a Lucent card with just about any AP and get good results.
«Does the dell card come with the same software as the genuine Orinico?»
The Dell card comes with it's own version of the Orinoco drivers and manager.    Unfortunately, the standard Orinoco fies will not recognize the card, you have to depend on Dell to update the files.  Someone posted a patch in one of the Dell forums a few days ago that he said would make the files usable but I haven't tried it because I'm happy with things as they are.   I get good performance everywhere I need to go.
LuNoTiCK:  Can the router actually pull down and send at 11Mbps? 
11mps is the 802.11b standard and all the equipment I've worked with works to that.  Whether you get it at the workstation depends on the card and the ambient obstacles.  If you know you will be in a less than optimal environment, I'd recommend getting a card with Lucent chips (e.g. Orinoco, Dell, HP, etc.)
muffstah: Does anyone know if you can pick these up at the store? 
The price at So. California Fry's today is $199.99 -- it may be featured in tomorrow's ad but I wouldn't bank on it.