From what I see, and what I hear from Howse owners, their products are as good as any economy level mowers on the market. If you're doing light to medium duty work, and just don't want to shell out big dollars for a high end brand light duty mower, go for it. Once you make the jump up to heavy duty mowers (meaning the NEED for a heavy duty mower) brands I'd recommend narrow somewhat. (and cost goes up accordingly) Light to medium duty rated mowers aren't rocket science, nor should they cost as much as a rocket to Mars...