After casting a few times with a van staal and then throwing a penn spinning reel you can really tell a difference. Basically the extra 400 bucks gets you an unmatched smoothness as well as a lifetime warranty. (He bought his about 7-8 years ago and it still fishes like the same reel straight out of the package) My biggest problem would be what happens when a big fish yanks the rod out of your hands or somebody walks off with your pole... man that would be depressing (more than usual)