I have been a fan of Shimano for years, however Daiwa revolutionized free spools with their X103's 5 years ago. Daiwa's new Team Daiwa Advantage series redefines value with state of the art drags and components for under $100. I fished the new Daiwa reels today and they are excellent. Also fished the Ardent and was not impressed with the weight or drag system.
Tom
Tom