This type of question can generate many answers. Or it may get ignored altogether as there are 1000's of postings like this one. Totally up yo you. Get the best one you can afford. I doube anyone will tell you a $400 Lawn Boy is a lot better than a $400 Toro. I purchased a Honda HRR216K5VXA from HD for $500 and I am happy with it (although there are a couple of minor issues.) You are correct to stay away from the box stores as they basically know nothing about he product and they don't service it. They are also 'not allowed' to negotiate on prices. A dealer offers parts, service, and discounts. The box stores are great fot a lot of things, just not for power equipment.

I bought a husky 7021p push mower back in june and I have been very impressed with it's performance.
For the price you can't go wrong

Here is a link that might be useful: Husqvarna 7021p push mower

I second the Husqvarna 7021. It has ball bearing on the wheels. The deck seems to be thicker than those Craftsman, Troybilt stuff. I would prefer the 7021(something) that is with the Kohler XT-7. Not to say Honda GVC160 is bad. Kohler is for low end commercial with iron lining. That is just me.

But the important thing about the mower is not the engine. I have the Troybilt top of the line mower, it is only 2 years old for home owner use only. One of the wheel is dangling!!! The deck bend out of shape from hitting something and I have to hammer it back. Most Craftsman and Troybilt mowers are make by MTD and they are not very good to put it politely.

There is nothing wrong buying in box store as long as you can buy an extended warrante.

1500 SF sounds perfect for the Lawn-Boy 10641 which is sold at Home Depot. It's a 20" self-propelled (RWD) with a B&S engine, about $250. It's made by Toro and is a very good value compared to a Craftsman at the same price.

Here is a link that might be useful: LB 10641

1500 sq ft is quite small. I can not imagine why a big box model would not last you a long time so long as you at least keep it clean and change the plug, filter and oil each year....which you really should do no matter what you get. The lawn boys Have a smaller deck but that might work out well for you depending on the shape of what you are cutting. I'd prefer the Toro Personal Pace myself. If you are hung up on buying from a dealer, my dealer sells the same steel deck cheaper Toro Personal Pace that HD does. Even if a few bucks more, buy it from them. They may also have used piece of quality equipment. For that small of any area maybe even something electric would work for you...

If you like, i am glad to send you some detail information for you reference about self-propelled lawn mower.

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

Lowes have extended warranty. I trust them more so than the small dealers. Problem is they only have Troybilt and JD. Troybilt mower is no good, take it from one that own the top of the line one.....Me!!!

Check out Sears whether they have extended warranty. You don't need info from them, come here and ask question. they should have Husky mowers.

You trust Lowes more than your local dealer? That's sad.

Yes I absolutely trust Lowes a looooot more than local dealers. At least Lowes is a big company and they have straight policy. You get what you get. 30 day refund, you know you won't get help after 30 days unless you buy the extended warranty. Straight up.

You get it from local dealer. You might get a good one that is honest, or you get a crooket one like what I gone through. When you equipment down, they always give lame excuses like old gas!!! Particularly if they know you are a home owner. they refuse warranty, they charge an arm or a leg for service. Easily over $100 for any repair. If you buy a home owner model, it is not worth to buy from dealer. the question is how do you know your local dealer is honest?

People don't need information from the sales people. If they know to come here, you get better info than from the dealers. I found those sales people don't know that much. At least you go to Sears or Lowes, they pretty much let you know they don't know instead of giving you the BS!!!

You want to support dealer no matter what, that is your choice. There are good reasons to buy in big box store. They are honest, straight up.

Whatever. My local dealers are my hometown folks trying to make a living and have to go the extra mile to keep their customers happy. Quite a few have gone out of business for not doing this. The ones that have been around for a decade or so have been around that long for a reason. The ones that give out bull$hit don't last very long and word travels fast around here. The local Dixie Chopper dealer just closed this summer after 2 years of poor service. Sorry your area is different.

Id imagine the crooked ones are long out of business by now...especially in this economy and with the advent of the box stores selling things cheap. The privates remaining must be doing something right!

ALmost forgot, I do have a Snapper dealer , and I have looked at some of those, particularly:

SPV21675, rear wheel drive.

Sears seems to sell for less than the dealer. DO you think a dealer is receptive to match a Sears price?

That would depend on how much less Sears is, how good your dealer is and how important service is to you.