every reel has somewhat of an issue or something most people would not find comfortable to fish with. for me im a rapala fan, between me and my brother we have all the 3 models to choose from. sure enough the rtype is your entry level reel, your basic centerpin reel does the job and handles quite well. IMO its a bit heavier and could use a little bit of fine tuning like the placements of the handle. and the startup is somewhat below average IMO. the classic drifter which i started fishing with is very solid reel IMHO. smoother action than the Rtype for sure, a bit lighter and a little bigger spool. handle placements were ideal for beginners. fingers dont get caught quite easily. startup is quite average. but the biggest downside i noticed with the reel, is trying to stop it with slightly wet fingers. for whatever reason the coating on them gets slippery when wet. LOL! for the price and how the reel performs i was pretty happy with it since i dont know how to pin at all. i owe this reel most of my knowledge so far. and finally there is the Shift excellent reel IMHO. large spool, lightweight. offset for a little bit better balance. i find the spool size very good specially on longer drifts as it takes fewer turns to retrieve your line from the tailout on bigger pools. startup is above average ( lower inertia startup ). the biggest hurdle i had trying to learn how to fish with this reel is the positioning of the handle as i was so used to putting my finger on the face side of the reel (as opposed to the classic drifter). couldnt do it with this one so i have to teach my fingers to brake the spool from about 1/8 of an inch which is basically the lip of the spool itself and not get my fingers caught. with a few outings i was okay with the reel. handled boots in the rain with it a few weeks back and unlike the classic drifter the coating on this stays relatively grippy. as if it was dry. thats what i can say about the rapalas. remember this is from my point of view and my opinions on the reels mentioned above. everybodys style and preferences are different so i just want to share you my thoughts. the way i look at it its like buying a car, one car is basic and will take you from point A to B price of the car is 15 grand brand new. on the other hand we have a luxury car which will take you from point A to B as well. price is 50 grand but it will have alot more features, toys and more importantly horsepower (yeah!!!) you get my point! hope my 2 cents ease up on the decision making. i dont own a raw II so i couldnt say anything about it. i see alot of people have it though