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

So with the occasional outages living in the northeast (Buffalo) I found myself looking for a generator the last 2 days. I was able to find one left, a Westinghouse but decided I wasnt going to drop $1000 on something I didnt know was good or not. So now the storm has pasted and Im going looking for a generator for the next time. I dont know any good brands other than Honda, Yamaha & Honeywell. I see there are generators out there (Powermate/Rigid) that come with a Honda & Yamaha engine. Are those still going to be as good as a normal Honda/Yamaha? Are $800 (5000w) generators just as good as a $1700 (5000w generator)? I dont mid spending the money for something decent, but dont want to wish I bought something different later.

Will be using when power goes out (maybe once or twice a year) maybe.

-fridge
-sump pump
-furnace
-tv
-lights
-blu ray

My wife went out last Thurs and bought a generator. Itia a Troy Bilt XP series 7 KW 10.5 KW surge. Seems ok. It has 220V or 120 V I need to get my brother (he an electrician by trade) come install a transfer witch so I don't have to run cords. Ran 12 hours straight last storm ran 2 refridgerators, 2 tvs sump pum and computer and modem.

http://www.troybilt-gen-pw.com/generators/model.cfm?id=0cc02aee00bd995072c7839a8d523dac