I would highly recommend the hard top. Otherwise with the soft top, you will need to replace it, and it will start to look crappy much sooner than you think. Whatever more a hard top costs, you will save in the long run by not needing to replace the soft top. It will keep you drier, is more sturdier to mount things on, and looks better.
I had a non-factory soft top on my 21, and now I have the factory hard top on my 23. I am very happy with the factory hard top. You can probably order it directly from parker and put in on yourself, or the local dealer could handle it. The lectronics box is a nice feature of the hard top also.