It all depends. You see, I have my homemade hydroponic stuff outdoors. That includes my rubbermaid tubs, bucket systems, etc. Those are much cheaper to produce than it would cost to purchase an aerogarden. I can make a bucket system for around $40-50, and they grow tomatoes amazingly well! HOWEVER...

I also have to pay for seeds or seedlings, nutrients, and if I were to grow things indoors (which is what you are probably wanting to do since you can grow things year round that way) I would need to purchase a light ballast, HID or fluorescent bulbs, and a reflector. Those things would cost $150+, and are a must to grow things indoors. So altogether, that means about $190-200 for that indoor setup.

Now, if you just want to grow outdoors then obviously the bucket is better. If you want indoors, then your bucket system will be about the same price as the aerogarden but it will not look as nice as the aerogarden does. I have two aerogardens inside the house and I love them! Why?

My girlfriend (basically wife) will only let me have aerogardens inside, not my bucket systems, because they are aesthetically pleasing. The aerogarden, is as easy, if not easier, than soil growing. You only need to add their pre-packed nutrients every 2 weeks, and add water when necessary. Which, it turns out, they have a neat timer system built in that tells you when to do both!

So taken these facts together, it really comes down to aesthetics and ease of use that bring the aerogarden in favor, or at least that is my personal opinion of the matter. If you want slightly cheaper, or a DIY project, go with the bucket system.

I just wanted to add that your plant size will also be limited to smaller plants with the aerogarden. The tallest one they make is 34 inches tall, and run $199-$229. By the time you account for the height of the base, and lamp, your plants are down to a max height of less than 28 inches. They say it's great for growing tomato's, in fact they even "CREATE" pictures and videos that look like their systems are growing tomato, but when was the last time you saw a 2 foot tall, full grown tomato plant? Even small bush varieties easily grow over 3 feet tall before their full grown.

Not to mention they use florescent lighting, and florescent lighting becomes very weak the farther away from the foliage it gets. Any foliage more than a foot away from the light wont be getting enough light. Then there's the added problem of the top foliage blocking the light from the foliage underneath it if it gets bushy at all. Which for most people would be the goal, to have a bushy plant.

Even though the system comes with everything you need to get started, it's not a lifetime supply. You'll still be buying replacement seeds/growing medium, and nutrients etc. shortly. For me their not worth the money. But like ethnobotany mentions if aesthetics is important, they do look real nice. Even though I do try and make my systems look as nice as I can (after all I have to look at them), functionality is a much more important factor to me. But if I ever decided I wanted to grow some small fresh herbs on the kitchen counter, and had extra money. I might get one of the mid range aerogarden systems, because their compact and do look nice. But figure out a way to use my own growing medium, seeds, and nutrients (because replacement costs are ridicules).

@HH

I actually have been successfully using 1/4 rockwool cubes in their plastic seed holders instead of purchasing new ones and it works great!!

Thanks guys, I think I"ll put it on hold now, and MAYBE wait for a sale to come around, or pick one up in a garage sale somewhere.

a little more info on your rockwool use please
do you sprout seeds first ?
the rockwool gets wet enough to sprout the seed , i just wonder, the seed seems kind of far away

What I do is cut the rockwool into 4 pieces. You are very right, the seeds would be very far from the light if you only used one of these pieces. I use about 2 of them stacked on top of each other so that the rockwool runs from the water to the top of the plastic insert. Works like a charm! I just created a small divet on the top portion of the uppermost rockwool before putting it into the plastic. That is where I put the seeds.