I bought 1 for my dad in his old age thinking he could start it easily with the compression release, was in the family about 15 years. Dad couldn't pull it fast enough to start it cold , but used it several years until i became aware of Stihl easy start and took him to the shop and he bought 1 which he had no problem starting it cold. I used the 42 enough for a fair opinion and ended up owning it 2 times after my dad died. Sold it to a neighbor and after a few years intermittent use, he gave it back to me needing some tlc. I traded it off as is. My opinion , it's less reliable and for the most part more cheaply made then a stihl home owner saw. I never knew it to start very easy and it didn't seem to fine tune consistently when it was newish and don't think it ever improved much if it did through the years. WAS usable most the time but not making the work as easy as easy starting, fine tuned chainsaws do. Reminds me of cheaper made Chinese homeowners saws in that sense with maybe a little bit better engineering here and there. If I were buying I would prefer stihl, echo or Dolmar.