The one I had was just a spool you wrapped the line around by hand. Some of the guys I have ran into said the reels with a spool get bunched up and you loose your arrow from time to time. I found a retriever pro from the company you are talking about at a pawn shop. It doesn't have a spool it just stores the line in the bottle. It has worked pretty good for me. No trouble with it. I can't compare it to another reel type, but it has a lot less drag than the old metal bell type you wind by hand. I can shoot quite a bit farther now. That makes a huge difference in the day for gar.