Just curious...both under husqvarna. Seems to me that Poulan pro, mcculloch, craftsman are all 1 series huskys with different colored plastics. With Redmax being equivelent to the midrange and red plastic. Finally Jonsered is a red replica of each kind minus the big 395s and 3120xp. So really you only have Stihl, Dolmar, Husky, and Echo (which is over the kickass Shindaiwa) left as their own companys who make their own 2 cycle engines? But I guess you have Hitachi...not sure if it is its own...and makita which is under tanaka. I'm sure each brand is known for something positive and negative. I think it'd be cool if their was somebody that tried every brand and had an unbiased imput on each brands good points and bad points.
Poulan Pro/Craftsman- Ive used both, and they seem the same...Poulan Pro for price of course. For under 200 dollars, I wouldn't trade my Poulan pro for a non Pro Stihl...the 290 farm boss seems too heavy and drinks way to much gas for its performance. So from my experience between Mid Range Stihl and Poulan Pro...the Poulan Pro is more practical.
Stihl- (only Stihl I consider true Stihl are the german made...rest is junk used as low cost sales to boost advertisement about how they are the #1 selling brand) The only pro Stihl saw I have used is my fathers 041 with a 20 inch bar. It likes its gas, but as for performance and build quality I'd rate it as one of the top saws for being practical heavy use-professional use. That saw is over 20 years old and it will still run but its been used and abused quite a bit.
Husqvarna- (same as Stihl, in my opinion if I were gonna go with a big brand Husky, I'd get an XP, otherwise you might as well save the money and get a different brand.) I haven't had a lot of experience with Husky...but I hear the 372xp is one hell of a 70cc range saw...probably gonna be my replacement for the 041...just because it weighs less the the 441 now, and I really want to give Husqvarna a fair chance of my opinion.
Echo- If you took Stihl and Husqvarna, and averaged the quality of every saw make...Echo would come out on top...they don't make the cheap quality homeowner equipment YET... Echo makes good small saws in my opinion...and Shindaiwa is now under them...their cs500p is a shindaiwa design and weighs 10.6 pounds, that will be my next 50 cc chainsaw.
Redmax- is one of those brands Id like some imput on.
Mcculloch- is another brand I have no experience with...I know their old saws Look KICKASS though.
Homelite- their old saws were kickass looking too
Jonsered- I assume will be just the same as husky with a different handle and color...but im up for input.
Hitachi- never used one, up for imput...looks like an overpriced poulan.
Remington- again never used...scared of things that say MTD...but if youve used one I'd like to know how it works for you.
Dolmar- almost forgot this one because Ive never used it before and actually hadn't heard of it till I started researching Chainsaws
Solo- again hadn't heard of it.
Tanaka/Makita...again never used.
If I forgot a brand I apologize...but if you have used multiple brands Id like to hear how they compare...and please no Stihl is awesome and everything else sucks...if youre that ignorant, then you probably don't even have a German saw.