Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just got this 4 days after ordering it from Wisconsin. It comes with a manual, screwdriver, spark plug tool, and a 12 volt battery charger cable. I noticed only 1 loose screw, the grounding screw post, which is easily tightened by removing the front panel screws for access. The oil filling port is under a side panel held in place by 4 screws. It would be more convenient if it were secured with twist locks, since the oil level should be checked before each use. I also had to soak the air filter with some oil as prep. Be careful with the oil dipstick as you screw it in: it looks to be easy to cross thread. After filling with 10w-30 oil, through a small funnel using about the 350 cc per the instructions, I filled the tank with about half a gallon of 89 octane ethanol free gas. There is a tall filter in the fuel opening. I switched the machine to ON, fuel valve ON, fuel cap OPEN, primed 6 times with the choke off, put the choke on and pulled. The first pull it started (I was surprised) but before I could turn the choke off, it quit, so once I turned it to RUN it started and held at the second pull. As far as hot starting, if you turn it off and then try immediately to start it, you don't need the choke. After a few minutes, you have to start it like a cold start with priming and choke. Later I tried to start and it took maybe 5 or 6 pulls, and later still about 3 or 4. On those lukewarm starts, it seemed to like to need priming, 3 pulls with the choke on, and then choke turned to RUN to start. So far I have run it about 10 minutes with and without 200 watts of light bulb load. The ECON switch has a small effect on the idle speed, and also the noise. The generator ramps up according to the load. Other than the bulbs, I also tried a 350 watt variable speed drill, and the generator has no problems with handling that, and it is still very quiet at that level of power. Once I have broken it in for a couple of hours I will see how it handles loads closer to it's rating. This is a very quiet generator, measured at about 58 to 59 dBA on concrete, with my light 200 watt load, using my ipad app, compared to about 68 dBA for my Harbor Freight Storm Cat, and about 72 DBA (using the same app) for my two larger generators, a Champion 3500/4000 watt generator and my main house generator, a Honda EM6500SX. The Champion is a small back up to my backup. The numbers don't really tell you just how quiet 59 dBA is. 10 dBA is a lot more noise. At no load, in the grass on ECON setting, the generator is purring at about 56 dBA on the ipad app. That's impressive for such an inexpensive generator. I don't have a Honda EU for direct comparison, I think the specs for the EU1000i are 53 dB(A) at 1/4 load, 59 dB(A) at rated load, so it should be a bit quieter than this Earthquake. The Harbor Freight Storm Cat is cheap, but for having only 100 more watts it's a lot heavier at 37 pounds and relatively noisy compared to the Earthquake, which weighs in at only 21 pounds. I think the Earthquake is a great value. I would love to have a Honda EU1000i, but the extra $500 in cost over this Earthquake is a lot. You do get more by paying more, such as more power, slightly less noise, Honda reliability, parallel capability, more outlets... but is it worth 3 times the money? As far as long term durability, service, and quality of the output for my Earthquake, I don't have the answers. As an inverter, the IG800W is supposed to have a pure sine wave output, and supposedly safe for electronics. I would not use my Storm Cat for anything sensitive, given the relatively large swings in voltage and frequency it has under changing loads. This generator would be a good choice for economical, portable lightweight power, where low noise would be appreciated. Update at 20 hours run time: This generator continues to run well, no problems. It is still easy to start, in 1 to 2 pulls after priming. I changed the oil as the manual lists at this point. It behaves the same, runs everything to 769 watts measured on a Kill-a-watt, sagging a bit momentarily before recovering RPMs and voltage quickly. No voltage surging at any time, with steady 60 Hz frequency. I'm really liking it and it is holding up well so far. Still at 5 Stars... I have some videos of this generator on YouTube. Just look up IG800W and you'll find 3 under m60mgman... OK I've run this with some devices: here's my results: Harbor Freight 4.5" 4.5 amp (540 watt) grinder: runs great, no issues. I tried a Craftsman Circular saw, which the Kill-a-watt says takes about 830 watts off the line: surprisingly the generator just keeps on trucking. I haven't actually cut any 2 by 4s with it: it runs at 839 watts, unloaded so cutting would probably be enough to trip the breaker. When they say 800 watts they mean it... If I were to use a circular saw with this little generator I'd find one below the 700 watt range, and use it carefully to prevent bogging down the saw. Haier 6,000 BTU air conditioner (5.5 amp Energy Star unit): generator stops immediately when it is on Cool to begin with, or if on Fan and you turn Cool on. I had no problem running this A/C unit with the Harbor Freight generator. The extra 100 watts seems to make the difference. We need someone to try a 5,000 BTU A/C unit to see if it will run with this generator...