Aluminum is light - drilling all those holes isn't saving hardly any weight - its just to catch the eye of the buyer.
Anything is stronger when it is ONE piece so why drill holes in it to weaken it?!
I messed around a lot trying to save weight off a mt bike over a decade ago - all that drilling/machining did was weaken the parts so they broke faster......LOL.
$800 clams is a lot of $. So is $600 clams.
No one cares about the guy who earns a fair wage and had other obilgations. In reality do we really NEED any reel that costs over $125?
I'm guilty as any one when it comes to over abundance of gear....lol.