I would agree with ya, but since the question had a dunce smilie to start with, then Freak made comment of "still not bought a saw?", I had to put my reply behind the concept of "If you gotta ask..."
Seems to me, anyone that could use or appreciate a 361 would never let this question come out of his keyboard - if ya need it, you know it. If a guy is still dipping his feet in the pool, I'd steer him to a base saw for now, but not close the door regarding it becoming his ONLY saw. Again - if ya need a 361, don't you also need a back up? Get the 55, go from there.
In all reality, my Mighty MS290 would take care of all of my must-cut needs - the extras I now have are to eother widen my field of play (460) or take strain out of small stuff (170). It's hard for me to conceive of a new weekend warrior (if my perception's off, sorry) starting off with a 361.
Besides, if we can get a guy to start off with a Husky, it'll be EASY to convert him to a Stihl for keeps!!!:hmm3grin2orange: <-- smiley for the 'tards who can't tell a tongue-in-cheek comment...