Are there any benefits of getting a head over a combo?

[crowhue]

The benefit is you can pick what every cabinet you want. You are not restricted to the little 8" speaker in the combo. I'd personally go for the head with a nice 1x12" cab with a Celestion Vintage 30.

Isn't that true of the combo too though? The HT-1 combo has a 4-16 ohm speaker output. So they both appear to allow you to attach a cab?

Sound quality-wise they should be the same so go for the combo with portability and attach it to a cab when you want to kick some butt

[bluesoverdrive]

The combo will give you the extra speaker, you will be able to use it without a cab. The head is the same sound, but you will need a cab.

So, imo the head looks better, but the combo (that also works as a head) gives you the same sound + a nice speaker built in.

I bought the combo and will use it into a Bugera 2x12" when playing with the band.

[rmx]

Once you consider to buy a cabinet the answer is YES!
I have the combo and it's built in speaker is pretty useless as it "shakes" the tubes and you can hear rattles and it destroys the tubes in the long run.
If you consider to buy a cabinet I do not see any reason why would you want to use the built in speaker and kill your precious tubes. The combo is just bigger and heavier...
And when you want to take a crap you can just easily unplug the head and take it with headphones to the toilet...