as Light duty leaf clean up with dealer demo unit to see if this blower can reinstill my confidence in the Echo name brand. Do I like it so far? Looks identical to my old Echo 8010T so its a maybe. Is it powerful? It is powerful but haven't had an opportunity to test it on a mountain of heavy leaves. How does it stack up to the Stihl br700? I honestly still feel my br700 hangs just fine with this 9010 on light to medium duty clean ups. The br700 pushes lines of leaves farther than my old 8010 and this 9010. The 9010 obviously has a wider blowing path but does not push out as far as my br700. The win for me is the Stihl br700. It is a very powerful blower, is lighter, has a better build and material quality than the Echo9010T, and is much more fuel efficient. Echo gets the cool factor in looks and sound but goes through 84 oz of fuel in less than an hour while my br700 goes through 47.3 oz in one hour. I will go as far as to say my Stihl br700Z beats the Stihl br800C I tested for a day in fuel efficiency and performance. Is the Echo worth buying as a home owner? Yes, especially with a 4 and a half acre property with over 100 trees of all sizes and types. Each blower has a specific place and purpose so the only thing missing is a blower that is purpose built to tackle large piles of leaves and sticks that got away from my routine of clean ups. My br600 is for fresh cut grass clumps that need broken down and dispersed or moved as well as wet stuck leaves and pine needle. My br700 is for light to medium leave build up and on occasion large piles of leaves both wet and dry. If I decide to buy the Echo, its only purpose will be to tackle extremely heavy leaf mounds both wet or dry if I let the leaves get out of control. we'll see after next week. so, get out there and buy a fucking Stihl man! Or...an Echo man, whatever floats your boat.