I have learned a lot over the years and one of the things I learned is that when I'm spending my money on something, I want what I want or I want it done the way I want it done.
Example, when I built my house I thought I wanted a furnace in the crawl space as it was unused space and it could be centrally mounted for good even air flow to all the rooms in my house.
Well they all said I didn't really want a furnace in the crawl space as it would be hard to service etc. I said I didn't care, I didn't intend to service it, that who ever put it in would be the one fixing it so he better do it right the first time if he didn't want to crawl back under it.
I gave in and now I have a furnace in a closet taking up space in my garage, I got crappy air flow, more noise and I have not ever needed service on it either.
You know who's to blame? The contractor for talking me into something other then what I wanted and myself for letting them do it.
If I would have found it to be not good to have the furnace in the crawl space I would only have myself to blame but that's ok as I would have gotten what I wanted and what I paid for. I would have also learned from my own mistake.
This is the reason for the OP problems. Even after his research he didn't want the Sthil, he wanted the Echo.
He settled for the Stihl against his better judgment, he's got a grudge against it, he's never going to like it and now he's paying the price for it.
It don't matter if the Stihl is better or worse then the Echo, he should have gotten what he wanted as he was the one who was paying for it and would have to live with his decision, not someone elses.