Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I asked this tangentially in my starter repair post, but I figure it really is a separate topic.

Any opinions on the 5000W Husky generator?  It has a 240/120 20A locking outlet, which is a requirement for household backup, and which I haven't seen before on low end generators.  On the other hand, it has a Subaru engine.  Now Subarus are popular cars in this area, but I don't know anything about their small engine reliability and I'd expect parts might be difficult to get.  Our local small engine shop might balk at metric fittings or unfamiliar designs (though they've started stocking Husqvarna snowblowers, in addition to Ariens).  At $600 from Home Depot, the Husky seems a steal, all the more so since I see listings for it on Craigslist for $650 and up and we just had a major week-long power outage in the region.

We weren't that good about running our current Generac generator monthly, and had to resort to opening the air filter and spraying starter fluid whenver we really needed it - but that got it going, and it restarted fine this past week wthout the starter fluid, even after being off overnight in the cold.  But it's showing its age in several ways.  We wouldn't be willing to replace it at a higher price, but for this price, we're strongly tempted, unless there's something bad about the Husky, or some other compelling argument to keep the Generac running. 

So any opinions for or against are appreciated.

Thanks,
Gary