It's 433x better than a drum. Almost 434x.

The biggest difference I see people having with the retriever is that it's much more difficult to 'reel' fish in with it. I have a line guide on mine so I can do it with fish up to 15lbs. Without the line guide, you almost have to pull the line/fish in by hand and then reel up the slack. Sounds more difficult than it is... but it does annoy the guys used to using a spincast.

On the other hand, a retriever should last for ten years. I know guys that bust a spincast in one outing.