PCS Repeaters

Has anyone looked into installing a cellular repeater before?  Either in your house or building?  I'm interested in what the experience was like and if there are amplifiers I should stay away from as there seems to be a huge void between the low end units (around $500 with the antenna, cable, etc) and higher end units ($2k+ for the amp alone).

The coverage in my new house is universally crappy and I think it is due to local topology.  On the drive home today I watched my signal drop after I crested the last hill before turning into my subdivision.  I suppose before I place any orders I need to climb onto my roof and see what sort of signal is up there.  I suppose if it's bad there I could go the tower route, but I don't want to look like a Ham radio geek, since I'm not.  I just want to be able to work from home and that means having my mobile phone work.