Three weeks ago, we were in the same position as you. Our 25 year old Montgomery Wards mower runs great but it was getting too hard to push (we aren't spring chickens anymore).

We purchased a Toro Super Recycler (20384). I has electric start, personal pace and a five year warranty. The wife wanted electric start because of her shoulder. If it was just me, I would have gotten the pull start.

She used it the first week and loved it. I tried it the second week and I like it also. This week I think that we are going to have to arm wrestle to see who uses it. The only thing that is a problem for both of us is when you want to pull it backwards. Sometimes it will be engaged but there is a little trick to doing it. The dealer should be able to expain it better than I. I am going to assume that we will just get used to it as we use it more.

Beware of sticker shock!! This will probably be our last push mower and we just said "we're worth it, go for it".

Over the last 8 years I've developed a customer list of close to 1000 units. Believe me when I tell you that you don't want to buy anything from a big box store. They are falling apart in two years and I see them all the time.

My two favorites are the Toro personal pace with alloy deck, and the Snapper, both from a dealer. Expect to pay about $500 for either. I greatly prefer the Snapper over the Toro and I use it all the time in my own yard.

As far as longevity, both of these units come into the shop for annual servicing and many are over 20 years old and still on their original wheels. Aside from general service, very little wears out on them.

'The only thing that is a problem for both of us is when you want to pull it backwards. Sometimes it will be engaged but there is a little trick to doing it. The dealer should be able to expain it better than I. I am going to assume that we will just get used to it as we use it more.'

Yiu will grow to hate it for this reason. In certain conditions with short push-pull motions, there is not enough room to let it coast forward to disengage the drive, so you end up with a jerking contest which the mower will win. It is particularly annoying when you have to pull back against a slope and the mower decides to not release the wheels, which makes it twice as hard to pull.
I had one of them and got rid of it before I went to jail for throwing it out in the street and shooting it.
Now Toros other drive is called Variable Speed and is my favorite. Basically the same thing but instead of the sliding handle there is a regular control bail. You feather it to go slow and hold it tight against the bar to go fast. And when you let it go, the mower instantly becomes a push mower for those intricate places.

I'm not 100% clear on the post above about buying from big box stores. If the meaning was that the cheaper mowers from there are just not going to last 25 years, then yes but saying that buying a Honda mower from HD is of any lesser quality than buying from a lawn care shop just simply isn't true.

There are benefits to both.

At places like Home Depot, you will usually save about $100. Thats where the benefits stop with them.

At the local lawn stores you will probably pay a bit more but the benefits are usually worth the extra cash. They will assemble the machine for you, adjust the cables/etc, fill it with fluids and normally go over the operation of the new mower as well.

Your choice.

Depending on your budget there are many mowers you can choose from.

IMO, the best home/commercial (in instances where its not being treated poorly and is maintained properly) mower that offers the best cut and ease of use is the Honda HRX line. They offer a key actuated electric start on the top of th line but with how easy my mower is to start, seems like a $100 option thats not necessary. I honestly barely have to pull the cord, maybe 10% effort max to get it to start right up. They also have a feature I find amazing the blade brake or what Honda calls "roto stop". This allows you to keep the engine running without having to have your hands on the handle as when the lever is released, the blades stop spinning. I'm sure this aids in the ease of starting too. I recently acquired a HRX217HXA (slightly older model and has been updated with the HRX217HYA) that is 4 years old. I actually drove about 5.5h one way to pick it up in Indiana!

Link to the HRX line on Hondas site.
http://powerequipment.honda.com/lawn-mowers/hrx-series-lawn-mowers

If the HRX line is too pricy then I would suggest the HRR line. The lower two (HRR216VKA and HRR216VYA) on the page offer great features and the same unsurpassed reliability. The main differences between the HRX line is the deck material, no hydrostatic tranny option and they have the 160cc motor instead of the beast 190cc unit.

link to the HRR line.
http://powerequipment.honda.com/lawn-mowers/hrr-series-lawn-mowers

The cut supplied by the micro cut two blade design is amazing. Since I have a hectic schedule I have to cut the grass when time allows even if that means early in the morning when the grass is still damp or even right after a storm.

The very first time I used this mower it was on an early Sunday morning where it had been steadily showering the past 24h and only stopped raining late in the evening the night before. My grass was easily 9"-12" long and soaked! It handled my super dense lawn (I use a lawn fert service provider) in the above conditions without bogging once and hardly leaving even the slightest remnants from the mulching action even though I had it set to 100% mulch.

The Hydrostatic tranny is wonderful too. Simple and rugged. You can go from barely creeping at all (has to be about .25-.5mph max) all the way to a super brisk walk/slight jog depending on your build. Im 6'1" and in decent shape when cutting I have the speed set to about 65%-70% of full capacity.

Not the cheapest machines out there but very well worth the price. My father in law is still running his first year Harmony (top of the line back then) that is 20+ years old and has only had to replace a throttle cable which was his own fault for snagging it on the fence!

You guys are great, thank you so much!

always-beezee/saxman1 - I appreciate very much your explaining about the 'trick.' I struggle with a stongly sloped, narrow back yard in places, and that might make me crazy.

baymee - I don't understand why a unit from a big box store would fall apart more quickly than a unit from a dealer, unless it's a case of homeowner maintaining unit vs. dealership. Please make your case! Thanks for the Toro and Snapper suggestions.

bsmith17 - thanks for the Honda HRX suggestions. Love the idea of a mower working even with wet grass.

The idea of similar models sold at retail stores as well as dealers being different quality is an internet rumor. They may well have some different features but they are made of the same parts by the same people. Check model numbers to be assured of the exact same features.