The rubber grips on both the D200 & D300 tend to wear out. Even if this is the case, it's not impossible to replace them. The part is- um, I think about $50. There's a thread on here somewhere about it.
I had a D200 which I just traded in. I liked it overall, though the battery life wasn't great- maybe an average of 300 shots per charge? But used Nikon vertical grips can be had for $100, and the EN-EL3e battery for another $35, so that solves that problem.
When I upgraded to a new-to-me D300, noise-free ISO was obviously higher.
My overall opinion:
If I have to buy a 2nd body before I can afford to buy another used D300 for $800 to $1,000, I'll buy another D200. I was handling the D90 today. While it's a very capable camera, w/ better ISO performance than the D200, I also like the D200/300 ergonomics A LOT better.