Nice thread. Even though I am a little late to the party, I read this over a few times before I went and purchased my 60cc category chainsaw. I discovered or already knew that Husqvarna, Jonsered, Stihl, Dolmar and Echo are all pretty good chain saws. They all make similar power and are of similar weight, except for the Echo. They don't publish horsepower ratings because some company was sued over misleading horsepower claims. Consequently they don't publish power ratings on their engines. I was annoyed enough with this to cross Echo off the list, even though they have a pretty big dealer close to my house. Speaking of dealers, I discounted their importance due to some comments I read regarding parts stocking at many of these dealers vs ordering online. In addition I have never had either of my Stihls to the dealer for repair work anyway. I tried once to have my 020T repaired but the Stihl dealer's solution to my problem was to buy a brand new chainsaw. He wouldn't even look at my saw! This shows the importance of some dealers . . . So, like many things, it came to a question of price, the one quality we can all quantify easily and accurately. The MS 362 and the 562xp were in the $700 range; both excellent, expensive saws. I looked at the MS 391 for $600 but all that plastic left me very cold. It just didn't feel right. Moreover I have read from a few sources that the 391 is difficult to rebuild or repair, suggesting that it isn't designed for this, suggesting that it is a throw away saw. I didn't want to plunk down 6 bills on a saw that I can't repair. So I bought the Dolmar PS6100 for $535 brand new. It works very well. I bought it from a dealer that sells both Jonsered and Dolmar. He had all the models on the shelf and had demo-Dolmars that I could try. Both guys had been operating and selling chain saws their whole adult life. They were great. I learned another thing: Urban and suburban chain saw dealers generally aren't very good. If you want a good chain saw dealer with knowledgeable people working there, nice inventory of parts and saws, go to a rural dealer. Unlike urban/suburban dealers, rural dealers know what they are doing.
