No, the color screen isn't just "an expensive addition" anymore IMHO. Even large monochrome displays like my 9000 Pro's are infinitely better than the small 1980's style green display of the Motif, which are a significant limitation for such a complex instrument. If you follow the talk on several keyboard forums, you'll find that many Motif owners like myself that have spent years trying to work with the Motif are simply tired of squinting and being forced to remember the myriad of functions necessary to get basic operations to work on the Motif.

Here's an excellent quote from Keyboard Corner, from a user who got tired of the explanations of how to use the Motif:

"I used to belong to Motifator and posted several questions there. I read through the questions and answers daily. I even ordered the Motif ES Instructional DVD and watched it - twice.

I guess what happened is I got tired of reading Brad and Bad Mister's repetitive answers to simple questions. They are so helpful but at some point I obviously became bummed out. I mean somebody would say "I can't sequence" and the answer would invariably be "It's actually quite simple. Hit pattern mode, go two menus to the right, select the pattern select delimiter, exit out of pattern mode, enter song mode, one submenu to the left, hit arm twice, exit out of song mode, now enter performance mode and hit arm once more, exit out, back into pattern mode and three sub menus to the left hit record and then exit out and play notes."

I like the approach taken by the Muse Receptor: it has a green display like the Motif's but it also has the option to hookup a regular monitor/keyboard/mouse so you can do complex preparations at home and then use the green display to call up your setups on stage.

Anything that makes a synth or arranger enjoyable to use is well worth it's cost. Nothing worse than dropping big bucks on an instrument only to wind up loathing it.