there is a lot of buy this and that goin on most of which ain't helpin you.
In Canada, especially rural Canada, You have hardware store junk (any saw sold at crappy tire is junk, they simply do not carry any quality saws) and you have Stihl and Husqvarna. A little bit of Echo here and there but its hit and miss.
In Canada, Husqvarna is priced way way higher than the competing Stihl models. I have no idea why they do that but as you have already found out it is true.
So, the two good quality available brands to look at are Husky and Stihl. Quality is about the same, but Husky costs 50% more across the board in Canada. So, get a Stihl.
The best of the best small cc pro saw is the Stihl MS200 or newer 201. The next step down is the already mentioned MS211, or MS250 if you can stand a bit more weight.