The Echo is certainly not as fancy as the Stihl ( nor as smooth or as powerful at the upper end of revs), but it is smooth enough and has delicious torque in the mid. It also handles decently, nearly the equal to the Stihl in that department. For 320 bones it is a steal for a brand new 60cc saw. You won’t miss the Stihl with all that money saved, imo.
A touch of grease and an O ring will seal up the intake nicely.
The limiter caps will have to be pulled and a light muffler mod is a nice touch for flow.
The Echo is a little plasticy feeling at first, but you’ll soon get over that. The saw fits together really well, so there is no finigilling about trying to put on covers and such.
The front handle is too slippery for me, so I just friction-taped mine. Fixed.
There is no way on earth a Stihl 362 is worth more than twice as much money as an Echo 590, imo.
Echo prices are creeping up fast in Canada, so eventually resale will be ok too.
PS, Don’t overlook the cs620 if you can get that for a reasonable upcharge over the 590...