Old thread, let us fast forward to update it: Briggs now intentionally makes plastic carb throwaway small engines called Briggs EXi or "Just check and add oil" engines... No small Briggs for push/self propelled mowers have an iron sleeve now, not even Pro model engines have it anymore.. According to Briggs site there is none being built today, what iron sleeved engines left on the shelves is all there is left!! Pro 850 was the last to have it. All Kohler engines are made China. Briggs Vanguards are made in China. Kohler's head gaskets still fail (fixing my sons 3 yr old cub now) & also suffer oil seal leaks from poor machining today, all are made from cheap grade materials in China and won't last long anymore! Very soft aluminum & plastic abounds them. Regardless where anything is built it's made by people who never even knew nor do they care about our American pride or our history of quality or about the products longevity! Anyone 30yrs old and under today simply grew up replacing products not repairing them unless they were dirt poor like I was and always tried repairing first but hey it was the 60's and everything had nuts/bolts/screws then and was steel. So why would today's engines have so many problems only after a few yrs running when they once ran for many decades without majors? Well' it's called "Planned Obsolescence" and its a fact most corps have now adopted this. Google it to really understand it well if you never heard of it, you'll be so thrilled. So everytime I read about engines online I'm really glad I'm a pack rat and keep everything. Well' I keep stuff until problems show up so I still have my 76 B-100 8 speed Wheel Horse tractor with the cast iron Kohler K series engine. It's engine/trans has never been apart once and not reached its first ring job yet & if it ever does I'll never worry about it again in another 30+ yrs or in my lifetime at least. It still burns no oil and cuts just as good as anything today without any of the mechanical problems. Why people keep buying these junk newer mowers again & again instead of buying the old brutes for a fraction of the cost that have outlasted them all by several decades idk? Restoring these if needed, is a lot cheaper than new mowers now days and it's an all new cast iron brute again ready for decades of service! I see some very nice cast iron garden tractors on craigslist all the time. Real garden tractors because GT used to actually stand for Garden Tractor but now it's just a sticker slapped on them and they can't even run anything, example: My Wheel Horse runs 23 different implements including Generator, side sickle, snowblower, tiller etc... Visiting websites about old Wheel Horses, old JD's & old Cubs (non MTD) tractors etc..and everyone is bragging & very proud of their mowers longevity and still use them regularly, sold or scrapped their newer ones they bought just after a few yrs usage. Been there done that with a Husqvarna myself! Visit any site like this one about newer mowers and what you'll always find is its junk, its in the shop, motors bad after 3 yrs, hydro rear ends out second time around. I'll sue them all! Lemon Laws anyone??..ect.....lol Even the expensive Zero turns have very costly engine/hydro repairs I read about them and have friends who own them too. In fact I'm good friends with people who care for football fields and cemeteries here so I hear first hand but they are very fast cutters while they are problem free, rarely make a complete season without a shop visit though. Expensive upkeep no doubt. Sorry but its just ignorant to me to pizz away money for landfill delight. Simply amazing and very sad for the old crying indian too. Now that really shows my age huh? *Peace

As with any upgrade in O/S there will be changes. Things will be moved, things will be eliminated, and things will be renamed. That's called progress. Vista has always been a fine O/S. It's problem was it came directly after XP the highest ever used O/S, and the O/S used by the most first-timers. It was geared towards security. W7 has 80% the same code of Vista and is geared to performance. I think you will enjoy W7, and this comes from a guy who came into the Vista world directly from Win98 (sigh) all the while kicking and screaming. DA

Oops - I meant to tell gary that I couldn't figure out the ARI directory. TD - thank you so much for the Bryant numbers I received an email from one of the companies saying that he had been in a class yesterday about Carrier's new Performance stat called the Edge. He said it was very impressive and therefore quoted me on: 3 ton performance heat pump 25HPA536H performance fan coil FV4ANF005 performance edge stat and outdoor sensor 9 kw auxiliary heat 10 parts and labor warranty $8056.00 If I want to still have the infinity fan coil and stat I'd have to add $504. It would be an addt'l $300 for a media filter series P102-MF. An additional $1200 for the Inifinity Air Purifier. So the lowest bid so far but still expensive. Soooooo here is a completely different scenario I'll throw out there. The instigating factor in all this was our yearly maintenance that showed the coil needs to be cleaned so it doesn't freeze up the system. They also have said each year they come out that they can't believe the thing is still working because of it's age (23 years). Would it be unwise to just pay the money to have the coil cleaned and just run the current system til it quits? I usually perfer to be proactive, but the thought of NOT having to kick out $9000+ right now sure sits well.

Thank you so much for your replies! This quote is from Salesman #3. He is the grandson of the man who started this heating and cooling company in 1945. His dad and 3 brothers all still work there. They were voted "Contractor of the Year" in 2002 and won an "Ethical Business Award" in our area last year or the year before. I thought they would be the most expensive, so I had him come out last, but his quote is the best. (he said he could do gas heat with heat pump,but doesn't recommend it based on our cheap electric. He said you have to set a temp where heat pump turns off and gas kicks in, same as Salesman #2) Last question - Does it seem reasonable that in this area people haven't been spending the money for a higher SEER unit because we only need to cool for 3 months or so? (it takes too long to get back the initial added cost) He said there hasn't been the demand for these units in this area, but I wonder if the stimulus rebate changes that. The $1500 rebate is pretty new, do they just need some time to catch up? Is it worth pushing him to quote me something from Rheem that does qualify? From what I can see on the Rheem website they have a 3 ton system that qualifies, in their high-end systems. It has lots of "bells and whistles" and I can't tell how much more it will cost. This contractor has said that he prefers to "keep it simple". less areas to have problems down the line. Do you think it is worth pursuing this in light of the new rebate?