Very simple, I'm renovating my game space and it has come down to the decision of table shape. Circular tables can fit more people around comfortably but the center of a rectangular table is much more accessible to all players. 

any pro/cons i'm missing? what's your preference in rectangular Vs. circular?

I'd go circular. The mentioned downside of the center being less accessible is just in relation to the radius of the table, and I believe that those sitting on the short side of a rectangular table would have less access to the center than the ones on the long sides.

The dream of dreams would be having the money for a custom circular gaming table (1 meter radius or so, slightly lowered green cloth surface for rolling dice and the "lid" to close it and use it as a normal table).

In order to get the same area available to each player (say a section of the table that is roughly 24" wide, and at least deep enough into the table to comfortably fit a character sheet), a rectangle shape is much more likely to still fit in a room than a circular shape is.

Math Example: My current table can seat 8 players, while I take up a few players-worth of space for my overly-elaborate DM's station. That's because the table is roughly 48" wide, and 72" long with the leafs inserted. So around the outside of the table there are 10 such roughly 24" wide player sections - while the interior of the table still has enough space to lay down a typical poster map (or similarly sized set of dungeon tiles or drawn areas on a battle mat).

If a table were circular, in order to provide as much space for as many players around the outside, it would have a diameter of roughly 76". There would be around 30% more surface area of the table, but it would be more likely to be out of everyone's comfortable reach (while on a rectangular table, somebody can comfortably reach any part of the table).

Aaron makes a really compelling real-life case to the rectangular table indeed... I guess my usual setting not including battle maps is the reason why I would go circular being able to keep the table reasonably sized :P

I've played at round tables, square tables, picnic tables, sitting in a circle on a floor, scattered all around a room even in a Burger King booth. It really doesn't matter.

Spielbound (a board game cafe) in Omaha has some tables that are either hexagons or octagons. They are nice for gaming. I believe they were custom made, by a volunteer there, though.