Update: Customer support got in contact with me and went above and beyond. While the experience with the machine has not changed, I feel like customer support is a huge part of the overall experience, and I'm adding a star for this. Kudos!
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Original: The only thing it is great at is throwing. It throws spectacularly - we had two snowstorms with wet snow. It had no problem with that. You can choke it if you run it into a wet bank, but then I think you can choke an Ariens this way, too. Assembly was pretty easy and straightforward (follow a simple one-page instruction manual...). No complaints about engine, I only used manual start.
The rest are not good news unfortunately. At least for me, who operated a 1978 Ariens for 8 years that I found on a curbside. When I compare, I compare to that machine, that I drove into the ground (no fault of Ariens). Some of the things I learned are something you can never pick up from pictures.
-No onehanded operation. Also controls are flipped compared to Ariens. Takes time to adjust. Drive control is on the right. To redirect the chute you have to release drive with your right hand (the machine stops), and reach to the chute handle that is UNDER the left auger control handle. I mean it's OK, but being able to direct the chute while still moving was great with Ariens.
-No differential. And it doesn't freewheel (I am not sure if it would be beneficial if it could tbh). Which also means you really have to push it when you need to change direction. No tight curves. Really hard to do tight spaces. Such a contrast to one-handed driving on Ariens, where you hold one pedal with your left hand, and can turn on the spot, while turning the chute at the same time.
-It's really lightweight. But I put 3 stars for the weight because it turned out to be a disadvantage! The thrower wanders around constantly and doesn't go in a straight line on my (somewhat uneven) driveway. When the skates hit an obstacle, the wheels being pretty powerful, just throw the thrower to the side. As a result, when you cut a line it ends up being a zigzag. So you constantly have to push it, just not forward, but sideways to try and maintain direction.
-Vibration. This is something that I didn't expect so much that I couldn't believe it after the first use. But as I'm typing it after the second use, my hands are still zapping from vibration. You can't quite tell that it's bad when you are using it, but when you turn it off, come in, take the gloves off and try to do something, you can tell your hands took a beating.
-It's low. If you are 6'2", you'll have to bend over, and it's harder on your back than a much heavier but taller machine.
It's still a very capable machine and gets the job done. I guess you get what you pay for.
Hank Hancock
Amazon Customer