Another help me spend my money, saw purchase thread

Hey guys, I read the forums almost daily on my phone, but never have much to post as I am still learning yet. We installed a Drolet insert in our fireplace this past November, and let me tell you, we fell in love with wood heat! Not to mention cutting our gas bills each month by half or more. Typical this winter was 55-60% less then last year, and this year was bitter bitter cold compared to winter of 2012/13. Only went through just about four cord supplementing or nat gas furnace. Really the furnace only ever kicked on right before I'd get up for work after the night fire burned down.

Now I know there is a million threads out there asking which saw is best for me, what length bar, ect, ect. Well I'll save some of the trouble as I have done some research, and have talked to two of my local dealers this week(ones a stilh/echo dealer, the other echo/husky). I'm looking for more of an opinion on my choices that isn't swayed by the brands the dealers sell.

These are the saws I have been looking at recently, which I believe will be plenty enough machine for my uses. I honestly can't see cutting more then five cord of wood a year tops. Beyond the first year or two to get ahead on supply. All of the wood I'll be cutting is 16" in diameter or less, red oak(leaving the white for the critters), maple, cherry, black locus, ect.

I looked at...

Stihl 251, had an 18" bar, 45cc, and was around $350

Stihl 271, also was 18", 50cc, was around $400

Echo 450P, believe it also was 18", 45cc, around $380. Five year warranty!? Worth it or a selling point.

Echo 590, 18 or 20" don't remember, 60cc?, was $400. May have been last years model or before as they only has the display.

Haven't really looked at husky but their 450/450 rancher would be comparative price wise.

Which would you recommend for my scenario? I don't know much about echo personally. My budget is topped out at $400ish, and obviously I want to get the best tool for my money. Both dealers I talked to offered echo saws, one also offered sthil the other husky. The husky dealer talked down the stihls, the other dealer didn't so much the huskys. I did consider purchasing a big and small saw, but I think one good saw with a couple different lengths of bar may be better right now budget wise. A big box store saw is NOT an option!

I also have my grandpas old old circa 1979 homelite, which is NOT light to use haha. It runs great and has cut cords and cords of wood for him, but I want to reserve it as a back up saw now that I plan to do more then just camp firewood cutting.

Likely no more then five maybe six cord a year. Little more this year because I want to get ahead on my future supply.

Thank you for all of the helpful replies so far! I took the saw I have of my grandfathers out of my truck tool box today. It is a Homelite Super XL Automatic, with a 16" bar on it. I thought I might want to add in the saw I have been currently using for comparison. A quick google search found that this saw is a 58.2cc. Kind of surprised actually at the size but on the other hand, not really because this is the saw grandpa used for felling all of the trees on the property that heated their house. He had two small saws that he used for limbing back then from what I'm told.

I plan to stop at another two dealers that are local and try to get a feel for their shops and see how they rate the products. I am almost certain of the dealer that I will be buying from, but it never hurts to be as informed as possible. Might also give the local home depots a call, never hurts to ask right.

Well gentlemen, the time has come. We had our quarterly meeting at work, and were surprised with a very good bonus. So tomorrow is chain saw purchasing day. I just got home from the dealer trying to make up my mind and handle the saws once more before it comes down to the purchase. I'm kind of excessive at researching and comparing items before a big purchase. You should see me pace when it comes down to one chartplotter over another for the boat, I'll damn near wear the carpet out lol.

I have narrowed it down to:

Stihl ms271, dealer has 18" and 20" in stock with .320? chain

and the Echo 590, the dealer has 20" in stock with 3/8 chain

Both are from the same dealer and at the same price point. Dealer services both brands of saws. They did explain more of what Stihl requires of them in trainings to remain a dealer vs what Echo requires of them.

I am slightly leaning toward the Stihl saw mainly just from a fit and finish stand point, and that I have heard and seen the name more often. Both saws felt the same in hand, though the Echo seemed a bit more plasticy feeling/looking where the case on the Stihl just felt a bit more solid. I guess for what I'll be doing (~5 cord a year, no more then 16-18" dia oaks) either saw will work well for quite some time.

Any final thoughts?