That the big difference right there, and as Carpsniper said, it's going to cost you about the same for initial setup with either the Retriever or a spincast (nice pot stirring Fishhunter). The spincasts give you the advantage of fastest retrieval due to the gear ratio, and have a drag setting that the Retrievers don't have, but the Retrievers are hassle free (no bale release button to remember to push, no anti-reverse gears to scramble, and it won't break).