How much you spend depends a lot on how badly you want the system. I personally wouldn't want to just half the yard. But then I am a lawn fanatic, and how my grass looks is a matter of pride to me that verges on obsession. My old house didn't have a system, and I had to go out and set up mobile sprinklers, move hoses, then check on it every half hour or so. It just gets to the point where you just don't do it and pray for rain. That's when most lawns go south. The new house came with it, and I will never have a house without it again. It's so nice to just hit a button and watch it take care of itself. Once you get it in and get all the heads adjusted, and the timer set to where you get an inch a week, it's on autopilot from there. Sounds like your price was a bit high, but not astronomically so. The controllers and brain box are fairly expensive. Then there is the digging in the pipe and the wiring, so it ain't just a "snap of the fingers" operation. You can find someone cheaper than the quote you got, I'm sure. My neighbor got his entire yard done for $3,000, but it was a guy and his son that did the work. It wasn't as "high tech" or professional job, but it did the same thing mine did...watered the entire yard.