You do get what you pay for. For just starting out, your probably not going to be able to tell the difference in those bows. After time of shooting one bow, then going to another high end bow and shooting it, you'll tell the difference. Life time warranties come in handy. Ive never had to have anything replaced on my mathews, but people have come in every now and then to the store and there were no questions, they just got what they needed and had it replaced.