After all, the RIP is what tells the printer how to make the letters without jaggies, how to make the photograph look close to continuous tone, and what speed to run the printer at. That is an excessive price for any product that in most cases can never be updated, can never be used to run another printer, can't run even two printers at once, and has few options. But don't buy a RIP on price alone.
Some RIPs are definitely better than others.
For example, what if you have a Hewlett-Packard printer today but in a year you decide you also need to add a Roland or another brand. This is because a RIP is the brains of a printer. The RIP is what tells the printer what to do. For example you need at least eight pass printing on an HP DesignJet 2xxx or 3xxx in order to accomplish photo-realistic quality. Thus you need a RIP that offers the photo mode option.