I was always told you get what you pay for....I see a lot of people asking about buying snowblowers. A typical snowblower will last 15-20-25 years...depending on how well it is taken care of. People will ask about saving $300-$400 dollars and want to get the "less" expensiver models.
If you think about being out in your driveway with the END OF DRIVEWAY pile and your snowblower won't go through it.....you will certainly be kicking your self in the rear for not spending the extra $300 dolllars. It is people like this that will go and spend $50-$100 for drinks or going out for 1 night but a long term decision such as a snowblower they "cheap out".
Personally I went with the Ariens PRO 26, but other manufacturers have high end series also. Myself, I work in quality assurance in a machine shop. We really need to support domestic manufacturing.
So in the end, don't cut yourself short on your purchase, there is nobody on here that is going to retire early on the $$ differential between the "budget" models and "high end" models. Get the best that you can afford, and you won't be out in the cold kicking yourself saying ..."if only I would have spent the extra money".
Just my advice.
PROUD OWNER OF AN ARIENS 926037 PRO
best deal I found at http://www.mchenrypowerinc.com/