I've been using almost exclusively shimano reels for years, but after hearing so much good stuff about the Revo reels on here (and elsewhere too), I decided to buy one.  Well I bought it yesterday, threw some suffix 20 Lb braid on it, and headed to a campus pond...that reel is AWESOME! I am very impressed.  I am very grateful for all of the good information on this forum.  

Caught a dink and a snake haha!  It was getting dark and I thought I saw something lunge at my topwater...but stayed on the surface, figured it was a snake.  Well I cast again and cranked down on it. Not sure why I did, curiosity I guess.  Well it sure was a snake.  I couldn't see very well (flash lit the photo way up), so I couldn't get excited about reaching down to unhook it, even though I figured it was just a Banded Water Snake. He managed to free himself shortly afterwards and I let him wriggle away to live another day.  

Great reel...fun night!

I received my Revo today. It is really nice. However, it's been 10 years since I purchased a baitcaster. So, needless to say, I don't have anything to compare it with really.

I really like the feel of it in my hand. The learning curve on it was pretty quick, imo. I will take it on a fishing trip tomorrow. Then I will know more.

here is a photo of the snake

That post friggin' ROCKED!  The two things I like most - snakes and Revos.  Combine them, well, I'm there, man.

Congrats on the Revo.  I'm sure you'll like yours as much as I like mine.  And on the released snake - me and the snake thank you.  

Thanks Micro...it takes a lot for me to kill a snake anymore. I killed one a couple years ago cause it was a copperhead in the backyard, and my little brothers play back there a lot.  Plus, I'm a student of natural resources in the forestry school at UGA, and ecosystem diversity is very important to me.  Who would want to kill all the snakes?