I had a $250 "excell" from menards. Thought I was getting a good unit and bought it because of the honda motor. I put up with it for a couple of seasons, and when the pump went out, I danced a jig! It was the biggest POS. Even though it had a solid motor, it was loud, vibrated, and the starting procedure required depressing the handle on the spray wand otherwise the motor would bog down. I even exchanged it for another after using it only once, thinking it was faulty, but the next one was just as tempermental.
I did research on ones from Northern (nice, but a little spendy for non-professional use) looked at the Generac ( they don't use a name brand motor) the Craftsmans all seem like they are homeowner grade throw-away- when-something-breaks machines. You can tell by the pump. If it is an axial pump, it is not rebuildable and won't hold up in the long term. If it is a triplex pump, it is probably a machine that will last. Vertical shaft engines gernerally are mated to pumps that will fail in time
Ultimately, I settled on a 3000 PSI Dewalt from Home depot. At $550 it is double what a homeowner grade machine costs, but it has a commercial duty horizontal shaft Honda motor. I also learned that recently, the Dewalts changed from using very high quality CAT pumps to lesser quality pumps. The unit on display still had the CAT pump and so that is the one that I bought. I love using the machine, it is professional grade, should last a lifetime, and is fully rebuildable if you wear it out.
It is more expensive then a throwaway unit, but is much nicer to use, and I have not doubts that it would outlast many of the cheap ones. Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish, get a good unit and you won't look back
