I strongly do not suggest you go too cheap on this. I bought a cheap Craftsman trimmer before and It just don't work right, hard to start. I end up return it and bought a Troy Bilt TBS475 from Lowes and works really well. Easy start and easy to work with. It is a 4 cycle which smell a lot better. I am a fan of 4 cycle because it is healthy to use, I don't have to smell the exhaust and is quieter.

For about $160 you can have a lot more choice. I never use Ryobi but they are suppost to be the same maker of Troy Bilt (MTD) Don't quote me on this. They make 4 cycle also and sell it in Home Depot for $144?? I did look and the motor looks the same. I see hobbiest take their engine and put it on model planes to fly!!! So they cannot be too too bad.( say cheap!!). I have experience with Ryobi cordless tools and they sure perform better than expected ( I have a lot of expensive tools. I still like Ryobi). I see a lot of contractors start using Ryobi.

Don't be cheap, you end up waisting more money on cheap tools that don't work well. I wish I have somebody telling me this. I am actually in the process of buying more expensive lawn equipments.( it is toys to me!!! That another story!!) Think of it, If the tool last 10+ years, what is the difference if you pay $160 or $100. Just take good care of it and it will pay off in no time. Read opinions on this forum.

If I were you. I'll look at a curve sheft Echo GT-200 or SRM-210 type, small 21.2cc in Home Depot for about $160. They have 5 years warrentee and Echo have many many good review in Lawn forum like this one. Look for the one with easy loading on trim line, I waist a lot of time loading on my Troy Bilt.

'Don't be cheap, you end up waisting more money on cheap tools that don't work well.'
Wise words indeed. For a little more you can choose from much better products. The Echo trimmers are light,easy starting and reliable. Stihl, Husqvarna, Tanaka and others also offer excellent trimmers that will not break the bank.

Thanx for the input but as I already stated $100 is the magic number.

I don't mind hard to start, 10 pulls versus 1 ain't gonna kill me. Easy load trim line on that Echo seems like a load of crap to me, I trim along some rock walls and it eats string so easy load would turn into frequent load, I like the bump feed and have no issues wrapping string.

No 4cycle for me either, but hats off to you for helping saving the enviroment!! Love the smell of 2cycle in the morning, smells like, VICTORY...

I'm not against quality tools, gotta RedMax backpack blower in the shed along with an older Toro walk-behind. I'm just against spending money on something that isn't used much, the POS Homelite trimmer that just died was left to me by the previous homeowner and I got 5 years out of it, not to mention however long he had it.

Thanx
D