Question: Right now, I use visual svn on my server, and have ankhsvn/tortoise on my personal machine. It works fine enough, and I don't have to change, but if I can see some benefits of using a DVCS, then I might give it a go.

However, if there's no point or difference using it without other people, then I won't bother. 

So again, I ask, are there any benefits to using a DVCS when you're the only developer?

Answer: 
I use a DVCS a lot for my own personal stuff. (I'm one of those guys that [at $HOME in git](http://joey.kitenet.net/svnhome/).) There are several advantages:

* It makes replication between my laptop and desktop and lab computers *really* easy. Though this was true of SVN also...
* I can commit on the laptop even when I don't have internet access.
* Backups are as simple as a `git pull`.
* I can use `git citool` to break up lots of changes into logically-sized commits, even if I've made lots of unrelated changes before deciding to commit. I'm not aware of a tool to do this in Subversion.
* When I have to patch an open source project, it's easier to keep things organized by making a new git repository in the project directory than it is to make a second copy of whatever source tree I'm patching. (You can’t do this easily with Subversion because you need a separate repository somewhere else on your hard disk entirely.)
* I use the easy branching features to check in revisions I get from other people. For example, when I edit a conference paper with my advisor, even though he doesn't have access to the repository, I can send him a copy of the paper, and check in his revisions in a branch based off the version that I sent him, and then use `git merge` to merge his revisions with anything I've done in the mean time.

Git got me used to thinking about all of my changes in logical chunks, a lot more than Subversion ever did.
Well, the default answer would be, "If (whatever you're using now) works for you, why would you change?".

But, yes, even if there is no reason for a change, I find using DVCS somewhat easier than the "older models". The following goes for *[Mercurial](http://mercurial.selenic.com/)*, which I use the most, so your mileage may vary, depending on which system you're going to use. 

* really easy to use - I figured out all the commands I need in an hour or so
* everything is local (you don't need the remote server to be online)
* very easy branching / merging - you don't even think about those things anymore
* easy cloning (also, a type of branching) - and generally, a much more user friendly interface (I found it more enjoyable than git's on windows; also some concepts are simpler; i.e. don't require thinking on my side, therefore leading to less fiddling with VS and more work done)
* works nice with svn

[Jumping gate to an intro to Mercurial](http://hginit.com/) and a [blog (pretty colours ;-) with useful tips](http://hgtip.com/).