Christmas present question

[Cahill]

Hi everybody. As I am sure you are all aware, Christmas is closing in at vast rate of knots. So, last minute as per usual, it is time for me to start thinking (panicking) about festive presents. I know my brother has said that he would like a new spinning reel, just an inexpensive one to use as a back up. I've been looking at brand new reels for sale online and came across the Penn Battle II 5000 (see photo) that come in for under $100 but still has cracking reviews. But I was also checking out some of the auction and classified ads websites like http://www.used.forsale/ and saw that I can pick up used Shimano reels for extremely reasonable prices. So firstly, has anybody any experience of the Penn Battle II 5000? And secondly, would you personally prefer to be bought a brand new low end reel or a second hand high end reel?