To Table Or Not To Table - The CSS Debate

[DrussRob]

I've been reading in quite a few different places all over the internet saying that tables are a thing of the past and will sooner than we think be phased out of web programming altogether. The general consensus seems to be that CSS is the way to go for designating areas that would have before been created with tables and that it is better for seo than tables.

Personally, I prefer tables. In my experience, doing total page layout design with css is problematic. It's more tedious than is necessary, becomes messy and overwhelming very quickly, and compatibility is sketchy and uncertain as definitions seem to be added and removed all the time.

So, what do you think? Do you concur with the current self appointed web tech intelligentsia that tables should be muscled out of the picture in favor of css? Is css in fact really better for seo than tables?