On more update. I ran another tank thru the saw this morning, and it continues to run flawlessly.
I just happened to be glancing over the owners manual, and noticed that in the air filter cover is a movable divider for cold/hot weather operation. I moved the divider over to the cold weather position. I really couldn't tell if it helped, but figured it couldn't hurt either.
Anyhow, I did my final fine tuning with the "H" speed screw, and set the saw to the maximum possible rpms where it made the best power and didn't go lean in the cut. The final setting was just a tad past 3 3/4 turns out from seated.
Since I really don't have anything to compare this saw too, it's difficult to give it an overall rating in terms of cutting speed and power. It seems to have plenty of power for such a small engine, at least now that we've hot-rodded it a bit. Like the other Echo saws that I have, it has a broad/smooth power curve, not "peaky" or concentrated at any particular place in the rpm range.
I bought many other saws over the years, and usually by this time I'm either really liking them, or ready to toss it down over the hill and go get a REAL saw! This one is a keeper, and it's going to fit well into our line-up for the reason that it was purchased
.......Cliff