Another vote for the Echo. A bit more than your budget, but well worth it.
I prefer Echo to Stihl, even though my personal weedeater is a Stihl. We run Echo trimmers and Stihl blowers when we're making money, though.
The worst thing is that I've just started back with the lawn service, and my dad has let all of the carbs get way out of whack. Next time I go out with him, I'm going to be fiddling with them a bit. The newest one is 3 years old, though, so a little bit of mucking about isn't that big of a deal.
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