People will talk about the cost of a chainsaw and debate the amount of use it will get. They will argue that they only want a saw for once in a while, so why spend over $200. For intermittent use, that saw may hold up fine over the years. If they want a saw that would definitely hold up, then they can go to a consumer saw made by the pro companies for $250 - $350. It will perform marginally better, but will be easier to maintain and have less failures overall. Then if they want a saw to really perform, they should go to a pro saw $500 - $1000 pending type and size.
I had a Stihl saw, 026 or something like that. A great saw for the cost. Worked every time and was a tough saw.
However, what people often overlook is the effect on the human body while using the saws in question.
A while back a friend of mine and I were cutting some curly maple. He was using his pro version Husky, and I was using my Stil consumer version. I was doing pretty good, but by the end of the day he had cut 4x the amount of wood that I had. And he wasn't worn all out like I was. A day later I traded that saw in on a pro Husky with a 26" bar. The next session out, I was able to keep pace. Cutting was effortless as the saw did the cutting and didn't need any urging on from the user. I wasn't worn out at the end of the day either. For the sake of the productivity and the saves on the aches and pains on the back at the end of the day - can I justify the extra $400? Sure can. Imagine what a doctor visit would be like after a back problem could cost. Or the fact that you might hurt your back and have to take a day or two off just to rest and recover. So sure, that lil extra is easily justified.
My two cents. --Jim