opinions please!

[19kouki98]

Hi, my name's Sean and I've had my '98 s14 for about 6 weeks or so now. Everything is completely stock thus far performance wise. What i need some help with is deciding which route would be the best to go as far as getting more power. I don't take offense if you say I'm a noob or whatever because I know I am. I'd just like to get some opinions. I have a stock KA24de auto (yes auto)..and honestly, I'm not really sure if it would be worth the time and money to swap to manual "gasp". Yes I agree that manuals are more fun to drive, however, when boosted, autos are known to be faster than manuals as they have less turbo lag. I'm just trying to get an idea of what to do for now while I save up for this project, I've lately been changing my mind daily. This is my DD, so i don't want crazy power, just over the 200 range. Opinions are much appreciated, thanks!

Here's what I've been thinking:

1. keep the KA24de and turbo it.
pros- cheaper and should make decent power
cons- engine has 130k miles on it, runs perfect, but still not sure how well it would hold up
2. rb25det swap auto or manual
3. sr20det swap auto or manual