What's the ballpark difference in price between this and the various MH units?
Let's compare similar sized fruit here.
The lawson unit I had delivered was right at $4000 and it's capable of exposing 2 23x31 screens at once. I know on their website they claim that it's comparable to a 5000 watt halide. I was looking at getting a tri-light here while back and it seems like if I remember correctly it was somewhere between the $12000 and $13000 range without the extra electrical work needed. Of course it was a 6000 watt so not an exact comparison.
I can't verify it's 5000 watt comparable but it sure seems a lot stronger than the 1000 watt I had.