ahh, something I forgot to add. Episode 1 was a hell of a lot more enjoyable than HL2 was to play through. So much so that I sometimes go back to play through it again whereas HL2, I think I've played through it twice since it first came out =/
Same here I've played through Half-Life 2 twice, while EP 1 I've played through at least 4 times now.
To buy Ep1 for anything more than $5 its not worth it...see if you have a friend who has it or wants it, then split the cost...or something else...I won't suugest anything illegal here though... But seriously, Ep1 is a ripoff in terms of what you get time wise...its got SOME advancements over HL2...but it isn't as good. The area where you're on the lift with Alyx and stuff is falling on you....I found that annoying...because I hit a bug that every 2 times I died, the game wouldn't load the level right.