(this relates to my experiences in the UK - I don’t know if options available elsewhere are different…)
I was confused by this too - but came to the conclusion that the two were, in effect/use, slightly different tools, and that the Plus version cannot be added to to make an exact equivalent of the Kit version.
It appears to me that if the dust/chip collector is removed from the ‘Plus’ (assuming it can be) that the base does not have full coverage from the phenolic base (which the Kit version does - I’m guessing this is what you refer to re the elevated base?) which might compromise its use in non edgebanding operations.
Neither iterations of the vertical base appear to be available as accessories. The kit comes with the 1.5 deg horizontal base, the 0 deg base being available as an extra.
My interest had been primarily for a small non-plunging router, with the flushing of edge banding as a very occasional use - and the cost made it seem like overkill. I borrowed an almost new Kit version from a friend who wasn’t finding a lot of use for it, and, really liking it, ending up buying it (at a good price - having decided that Plus version would not be right for me, though the MFK700 may still be a costly overkill!) and I can now think of a number of projects for which hard wood edge banding would be a good feature…
If you want to be able to also use it as a small, more general purpose (albeit non-plunging) machine, I would - in my very limited experience - suggest that the kit is the way to go. Are there things the Plus version can tackle that the Kit version cannot? Hopefully someone with more experience and knowledge can add something here…
