Lawn Vac - Worth the money?

I'm tired of my lawn's leaves and gumballs and I'm thinking about buying a walk behind lawn vac. There are several brands. Billy Goat, Cub Cadet, Troy Built and others. Some are self propelled and some are not. Anyone have any experience - good or bad with these? I'm not so worried about the branch chipper part, but think I would like to have the bed hose attachment. They are running between $600 and $1200 for what I'm looking at.