Concerning the general concept of this thread:

I disagree with the need for a consolidated thread on "Is it worth it?" Indeed, I think there is too much tendency toward consolidation of threads in this forum. It is incredibly difficult to access information through the search functions on FT, and when a thread grows to hundreds of entries it might as well not exist at all. There is really no harm in there being even a dozen threads each day that say "Is it worth it?" -- those who don't wish to work their way through repetitive information can simply avoid clicking on those threads.

So I suggest that the moderators not treat this thread as an all-encompassing place to move people's simple straightforward questions that pertain to a particular situation.