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What Barry said.
There is a mix of Honda and inexpensive Chinese-made gensets in use at my site. So far (knock on rock...) the Chinese models have yet to miss a beat.* But the thing with the Honda gensets is that there's no hope involved: you know they'll do the job.
The Honda's weigh around 1/3-1/2 as much again as the equivalent capacity Chinese models, which is a testament to the quality of construction of the Hondas and the amount of materials (steel and copper) used, compared to the cheaper Chinese jobs.
But both are very quiet. (I couldn't say if the Hondas are quieter than the Chinese ones...I've never really paid that much attention.)
If you want to run hefty loads 24/7, then I would certainly recommend the Hondas, if only for the peace of mind that goes with having them. But for average usage, chances are good you'll be just as well off with the Chinese models (which are cloned Hondas, truth be told) and saving a lot of cash into the bargain.
Still, for whatever purpose, if you can afford the Honda, buy the Honda.
Oh, and I saw an American engineering report or survey a couple of years ago that rated Tecumseh, B&S and Honda motors against each other. The Hondas won hands-down, by miles. The B&S never even came close, and the Tecumseh were even further back still. Both the Tecumseh and B&S motors copped a lot of criticism from every American engineer in the report, who all unanimously recommended the Hondas.
*Edit: We did have to replace a dead Chinese-made sparkplug and a crumbling fuel hose on one Chinese-made genset. That was five or more years ago and no problems since.
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