I'll throw in my 2c worth. I've had a 441cm for a couple months now. FWIW, it's the R model which has the stiffer AV springs, high output oiler, bigger clutch cover, twin dogs etc.
I run a full time tree service with about a dozen saws in use daily. We only go through about 40 gallons of fuel a month which isn't really that much. The work load varies from very light on smaller trims up to as much as 5 or 6 gallons a day on jobs where we rip up a lot of barrels. I've never been a fan of the newer saws. I've run most of them, but came away feeling they were slow, gutless, heavy and generally not worth it. My favorite saw has always been the 044.
I'm a convert to the autotune. I'm thinking of selling a couple of my 044's and getting 441cm's. Longevity isn't a great concern of mine; my saws only run a couple years before there's not really anything left of them. I'm concerned with power, reliability, weight, and fuel consumption... in that order. I'm not concerned by the lack of screws on the carb. I hate having caps on screws, because saws need to be adjusted. Hate having a rich saw, or worse a lean saw. But with the autotune why would I want to adjust? To get a less than optimum setting?
power
The autotune stuff does work. All my saws are at least muff modded. Some have the base gaskets removed. I've also got one of brads ported 660's. I tune all my own saws in the cut. They're also fitted with tachs which makes life easy to get base settings. The 441c beats my tach and screwdriver. It has more power than my 044's for sure. I'm running a 28" ES lite on the 441, and the 044s are running 20" and 25". All full comp semi chisel. The 441 with a 28" keeps up easily with an 044 running 25", both buried. It's a little behind a 20" 044 buried, but that's a lot of extra wood. I couldn't put a 28" bar on an 044. The balance is perfect with the lite bar, same feel as a 20" on an 044.
an easy life
I've got the HD2 filters on my 044's and 660. I clean them out twice a day. The 441c has the same filter. I've had it 2 months running daily and havent had to clean it out yet. That air routing stuff works. It also starts real easy. like, 2 fingers easy slow pull over easy. When you're starting saw's 100+ times a day that's a nice feature. I've got no idea why they put that decomp on there. The AV really does work, which is pleasant if you are running a saw all day every day. It has less emissions about it which is also nice. The fuel economy is surprising. I don't know if the tank is bigger than on the 044, but my god it gets some work done! about 1/3 more than my 044's.
I think if I was a homeowner/occasional user I'd be loving the autotune. Those guys have no idea, they just want to cut wood. If I was a serious amateur then I might not like it. Those guys want a saw to last for 25 years and only use it occasionally. For those guys, fiddling with the saw is a large part of the pleasure of owning it. For me, I just need to cut a lot of wood. I don't want to spend more time/money servicing my saws.
Shaun