I have both Stihl and Echo chainsaws. My dealer sells both and at first, I went there to buy Stihl because I thought they where the best ones out there. I had Husqvarna and when it was new, it was fine, but it dies rather quickly and I hated trying to get it started before it finally quit completely. I first learned about Echo from my Stihl dealer when I was looking for a new weed eater. He had several Stihl's to choose from and when I asked him about which was better, he told me that for the same money, I could get an Echo with a bigger motor and gear box. Or for less money, the same sized motor and a bigger gear box. Having read good things about Echo, I gave it a try and loved it!!! When I went back to buy a pole saw, I was already leaning towards the Echo brand because you get more power and stronger gears for the same money as Stihl. And that is exactly what I did. I never had a Stihl pole saw, so all I can compare it to is my Stihl chainsaws. It starts easier!!!!! It has plenty of power, but you really have to wear the strap to support the weigh because it gets heavy after awhile. You will especially notice it on your forearms!!!
Oil mixture is different between Stihl and Echo, so if you already have one brand, it might be worthwhile sticking with that brand just to avoid having to have two fuel cans. I wrote on my with a magic marker to tell them apart. One gallon gas cans are cheap, so it's not that big of a deal. It just gets confusing if I have them all out, plus two gas cans take up twice as much space on my shelf.
