I don't know much about Efco but the other two are top dogs. Service is more important than brand. The Dolmar PS510 or Stihl MS270 would be good choices for your use, a PS5100 or Stihl MS260 if you want something more robust

Dolmar: 5100, 6401 or 7900 (the latter two are large saws and might be overkill for your application but they're great saws)

Stihl: MS260 or MS361. (the 260 might be too small while the 361 is often touted as the perfect firewood saw).

Efco: Good saws from what I've heard but I'd avoid these "orphan" brands and stick with Stihl, Husky or Dolmar and choose the dealer first and the brand second.

whats the biggest size tree your going to be cutting?

You can't go wrong with the above suggestions.

Price may be a factor for you. ~$500 for the pro models, ~$400 for the non-pro models. ~$600 for the larger saws. Dolmar is generally less expensive for equivalent models.

If a 16" bar will be big enough for what you want to do then the above suggestions in the 50cc (canguys recs)saws are good. If you need a 20" bar then the 60-65cc (davefr's 6401, 361) saws recommended would be a good choice.

Keep in mind that Stihl saws vary a lot in quality from thier Pro saws to the homeowner ones. The Dolmar and Efco saws I,ve seen and run are built better than the low end Stihl saws, nothing wrong with thier Pro saws like the 361 and 260 except the price. There has been some real good deals on ebay on John Deere (Efco) saws, like the CS62 for a little over $300. Steve

I picked up an Efco (JD CS40) in the fall and I Love it. It is well balanced and lightweight, and has a tremendous flat torque curve. I do have a Stihl 026, and a Husky 350, pound for pound I'd keep the Efco over the other two. The other neat thing about the Efco is the fact that it runs an economical Oregon bar and chain available at Wally, who can beat $22.00 for a two pack of chains for 18"ers?

What the quality differences between a stihl pro saw and a homeowner saw? A while back when I was looking for a new saw, I ended up with the ms250 since this saw was the best fit for my needs. I think this saw is well built, solid, lots of power, runs great, and cuts pretty darn good. My father in law gave me and Mac 3200 and the quality between the saws is quite obvious. The mac just feels cheap and you can tell its not well built, not to mention their is always something wrong with it. I realize that the pro saws will have more options than the homeowner saws. The differences I found on the ms260 vs the ms250 were that the ms260 had slightly more power, a better air filter, the intellicarb, and a better anti vibe system. The ms250 uses the same forged crank and needle bearings that the pro saw uses, so what are the quality differences?

Well usually a pro saw has a metal bottom end (crankcase) where the homeowner saw has composite (plastic).
Also construction of the saw itself ie. how it comes apart for rebuilding. It's a mixed bag though; like for instance i think your 250 has a fuel bulb on the carb where the 260 I think does not. Think of it like this: If you need the saw for your living, you probably want a pro saw. But sometimes the difference is more subtle; like the 260 pro and no pro; the pro has some extra "features" but it's the same saw. Maybe some of the others could shed more light.
I haven't bought in a few years. You could also try AS for info.
-br

Here is a link that might be useful: Real good folks and info here too.

They look the same on the outside, taken apart it's easy to see the quality difference. Also Pro models will cut quite a bit faster and wieght less for the cc. I think Stihl saw HP numbers on home owner saws are over rated compared to thier Pro models as they have a better profit margin on the home owner saws. One example MS260 = 3.2 HP MS290 = 3.8 HP yet they cut just about the same. Steve