Yay! You're right! I wonder why have I forgotten about LANGUAGE SQL. :) It's 30 seconds vs 5 seconds for CASE ... END insisde PLpgsql vs CASE...END LANGUAGE SQL. :) I.e. its almost the same as in-place entered SQL.
Regards, Dawid
---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match
---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 8: explain analyze is your friend