Since you are a budding "CAD" freak...first you MUST figure out what color looks best to you.
Husqvarna's..whatever
Stihl...Orange
Other...Jonsered, Dolmar, Echo etc.
Thats the most important descision. Endless churning and hashing to be done with this first and most important descision as it wil impact your CAD life until your fingers are too arthritic to type.
A big facter in the "color" descision is what type of personality do you have? Are you a conventional conservitive type or do you tend to be independent and like to buck trends.
Are you a "herd following" conservative type? If so, Stihl has to be your only choice. A little more independent, but still the more conservative type..Husky
A Maverick (Clutch Head) performance nut...look to Dolmar for inspiration.
Zeolet looking for a cause to champion...Solo
Infleuenced by the eastern cultures...Echo
Rebel without a cause...Jonsered.
You will be absolutely pleased with withever path you choose..and you can change paths as time goes on.
Second big descision is budget..which you have, $300 to $400. Seeing as you have already dragged this out a few pages...I'm going to suggest Husqvarna first, Stihl second, Dolmar third, with Jonsered a wild card.
For Saw particulars?
Husqvarna 359 is about the best medium sized all around saw you can buy. Period. You would have to ebay one and gamble with the financial goals you have set, but you would have a saw for all seasons and one you would probably keep as your main saw. (My Husqvarna 365 is my all around saw..my little 455 is going to try and bump it from that position this year)( The local TSC store has a "customer return" Husqvarna 359 for sale at $418 Dollars. They would take less. Absolutely nothing wrong and maybe a couple of tanks of fuel through it. Look at your Box Stores for deals, I got my Husqvarna 455 for $150 bucks; as a true CAD nut would do! I was brand new. Looks brand new, the chain was origional and still sharp. Little paint off the bar.)
A Stihl MS290, even a 310; is right in there price wise and have been around since the earths crust cooled off. My friend from the north part of my county loves his..and has for a long time. The problem is the folks here on this site will rip them for their lack of "Pro" ambitions. Thousands have been in use for years. Solid saws.
Your budget says Husqvarna 353....a nice saw with a good following. But will be relagated to backup and limbing saw if you do a lot of cutting.
Bottom line, pick a color, and then find a 55cc to 60cc class saw in your price range so you have a useful first all around saw. Forget the bleeding edge fringes (Dolmars 5100s and other hyper expensive small pro saws) untill you are a full fledged CAD nut with a solid saw to ensure your work gets done and have a budget to deal with them. (One thing I learn OVER and over again out here on the east coast with hard wood. There is NO replacement for displacement...period)