Purchased new in October 2015 from an online retailer with 3 cans of Husqvarna brand canned fuel to attain the full 4-year consumer warranty. Paid $570.00 for powerhead, 18" B&C and the three cans of fuel. Initial impressions were: Light weight, good looking and well engineered. First usage impressions : Easy to start as long as you follow procedure. Holy Cow! This thing is an animal! This analysis was based off of a decade of experience with an early Husky 350, which I still have. Throttle response was much crisper and the 550 will rev much higher on the top end. The 550 enjoys a 3/4h.p. advantage over the old 350 and it shows. It has been used a good bit over the past two years and has earned it's title as "Tractor Saw", which the old 350 used to retain. I figure 35-45 tanks of fuel have been through it since new. I have used it for limbing, bucking, noodling, and general firewood and maintenance duties. I find that it excels at all these chores. It's light enough to use for extended periods, and spins the 18" chain very well. I was initially a bit leery of the computer controlled carbs on these saws. At this point, I am a believer. I had purchased an 8 pin rim sprocket for it thinking it had enough guts to spin a 20", 3/8" B&C. It WILL run this combo, but I find the 18" .325, 7 pin to be more desirable for what I do with the saw. I modified and mounted a spike off of a 562XP as the stock spike was not large or aggresive enough for my liking. I have also done a "mild" muffler mod to it. This mod will make the saw considerably louder, with a small performance gain. I purchased a new stock muffler to keep around in case of warranty issues. I mostly run the canned fuel in this saw, currently Echo brand with Red Armor. I do have a couple of issues with it, thankfully, it is a fairly short list... Starting: As mentioned earlier, as long as procedures are followed, the saw will start faithfully. I have learned that the purge bulb is the most important part of the procedure. I will give it a few pumps even if it's only been a few minutes since I sat the saw down. If it cools a bit, high idle setting and a few purge pumps. Cold starts require half dozen pumps, full choke until it burps, then to high idle to start. Top cover: It could just be me, but it seems to take a bit of effort to get the top cover seated correctly to get the cover snaps down. Don't get me wrong, way better than a scrench on the 350, but seems I always have to fiddle with it a bit to get it just right. Paint: For some reason, the silver paint does not seem to be very durable and scuffs pretty easily. Not really important though, I suppose. I replaced the silver clutch cover with an orange one...personal preference. And that's it as far as complaints! Well, they could cost a little less, I guess? I suspect that this little saw will continue to serve me well for a long time to come. Very satisfied overall. Cost and the above mentioned niggles keep me from giving 5 stars, but these saws are awesome, no doubt about it.
