The case is all plastic. She recommends a Celestron C5. All you want to do is some light observing of the moon and the planets. Your friend thinks you'll be sorry, but you go buy the Meade ETX, and it seems to work pretty good. In both of these cases, there is a trade between perceived quality and utility.
Some people are bargain hunters and resist buying the best of anything.
Other people have a business to run and excessive costs come right out of profits. Others want the best, period. The real trick is to be perceived as clearly superior at the same price point. Yet nowhere is it more true in consumer optics that the more you pay, the better the quality. That fell on deaf ears too.