RE: *Airtronics RD8000 2.4 GHz*
To each his own. If you want prestige, there are many, many fine radios that cost $500-$1,000 and up. I've owned a $2200 Futaba 14MZ (which I later sold) as well as an $800 Royal Evo 12 synth (also sold). Both looked cool.
For what it's worth, there have been a lot of top pilots flying the DX7 on 35-40% planes to showcase 2.4 for Horizon. In my opinion, while the DX7 is surely a good radio, and I've played with one, it looks a bit toy-like and cheap to my eyes compared to a 9303 or 10X, for example. However, I don't think those top pilots fly any less well or are judged any less critically because of how that radio happens to look.