We have a fleet of Honda HS928TAS where I work (at least a dozen). The facilities guys that use them don't speak highly of them. The Ariens commercial units are quite a bit heavier which helps keep the machine from riding up on top of the snow. A good friend has a simplicity P1728E that he uses to keep about 150' of sidewalk clear from what the town snowplow deposits. That unit has the powerboost feature which is very helpful in the extremely dense, packed snow he has to clear. It has a high hp per inch ratio as well.
I'm not convinced the Honda is worth $1k more. I don't think I would choose it over a Simplicity or Ariens if it was the same price. But that's just me.