Are the more expensive ones worth buying? Which one is your favorite?

Shimano spheros for a fair priced saltwater reel. Anything that shimano makes that is greater than 70 dollars is a good buy. Trust me for reels, you want to spend a little if saltwater fishing

I have a couple Shimano Spirex that I like, I like the casting trigger which allows one-handed operation. The Shimano Symetre is pretty nice for the money, I've fished with those. I have fished with a Shimano Stella that cost $600, but didn't see or feel what made it worth that much money.

i agree iv got the spheros 4000 spinning reel and it works great and casts smooth

I've got two of the new Stradic FIs. A 2500FI, and a 4000FI. Great reels.

It appears that Shimano is in the process of upgrading the Spirex, and Symetre lines of reels. They are no longer listed on the Shimano web site.

I'm guessing that Shimano is in the process of upgrading their sub $100 spinning reels at this point. They did the upgrades to their over $100 spinning reels earlier this year.

TFP

for freshwater fishing? no in my opinion.

You can get away with cheaper spinning reels than baitcasters, because the wear on the reel in no way affects casting (unless you damage the spool lip or line roller, which could happen on an expensive reel as well).

For less than $50 you will get a graphite framed reel with an aluminum spool and 4-11 bearings depending on the reel. It will still be smooth on the retrieve. If you do basic maintenance it will last a long time, but when something major needs fixing, you can have a new reel for what the repair costs would be. It technically will not hold up like a more expensive reel, but most "catastrophic" failures of my reels are from things like dropping them, or some other non-reel construction accidents.

Saltwater is a different animal, but Cabelas has a saltwater reel that is still in the same price ballpark, and there are all metal reels on sale from time to time.

Cabelas had their Great White(made by Quantum) spinning reel on sale(clearance) for like $20--I picked up the 70 series and it is about as good a reel as my Boca and about $120 cheaper.

With that being said I really don't like cheaply made(note I didnt say cheap) some of Shimanos lower end spinning reels have way to much plastic and they dont feel solid. Drag is cheaper as well--Quantum's drags are ceramic and will last a LONG time. I've had problems with a Shimano spinning reel(not really a cheap on--the Capricorn) bail not closing--but that was just one of them. Normally I would think for $100 you can get a really good spinning reel--and if you check you Academy now(some of them still have them) you can get a GREAT reel for around a $100.(Stradic and Sustain)

What kind of fishing are you gonna be doing with it? I have a Spheros, and a Saros. The Saros is my favorite. (I also have a Daiwa Emcast Sport reel.) The Saros is the most expensive reel I own. But it was well worth the money. I have baitcasters too, and fly reels...but you asked about the spinning reel...

I personally own several nice Shimano spinning reels. But for the money, Okuma Epixors are all that and a bag of chips. I have used the EF25 to land several nice hybrids and they can certainly handle them. You can usually pick them up on eBay for about 40~50 bucks.

Best spinning reel out there is US Reel SuperCaster 230SX...hands down.