Personally I use a couple of Stihl 2 in 1 easy files these days, and couldn't be happier. I chuck my bar up in the vice and pay attention to all my angles and think it's quicker and easier than anything I've ever used. Plus, closest thing to factory new chain sharpness that I've been able to reliably repeat.
i do about a 100 chains a month- none of the current grinders in the under $600 class stand up to that. The silveys were good units stood the test of time as mentioned no longer made. Pro and cons to all of Italian or copies there of, for the average person they are ok.
This is what I've been using the last 6 years, or so. It's definitely a cheap POS, but it's a cheap POS that gets the job done. I won't be leaving this heirloom to the grandkids, but sharpening chains in a warm garage with the radio or TV going on a Tuesday night is far preferable to wasting valuable daylight in the field on a Saturday, while you dick around with hand files and a chain.Here's the Northern Tool grinder page that will show a lot of popular options. 10 years ago, Northern Tool was the hot ticket for a lot of guys who bought their $100 grinder, and really great results, especially when they were shimmed and dialed in. They have sold a ton of them over the years and I've never heard anything bad about the higher level Oregon's that are shown here:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...insaw-sharpeners-grinders+sharpeners-grinders
Good luck.
I've always been told it's difficult to hand-sharpen a chain after it's been done on most bench grinders, as the profile left by the grinder is not usually a great match to the perfect half-round of the file. I'm sure there's some truth in this, but I do not know how significant a problem this really is, as I've not tried myself.I use this one
https://oregonproducts.com/pro/products/accessories/BenchGrinder_410-120.htm
I have had good success with it, just have to take your time. I still do a quick touchup in the field with handfiles but eventually I do throw them on the grinder. It is a life saver if you hit a rock and have to take a bunch of meat off all of the teeth. But we don't ever hit rocks or dirt with our chains do we...