Summary:
An excellent mid-sized saw choice in my honest opinion with very good ergonomics. Well built and a workhorse in the woodpile. I have been tackling 16-24" firs with an 18" bar on and it screams through in fine form. For anything much larger I think I'd opt for the 20" bar though. Important to get the starting proceedure right as choking it for more than a couple of pulls will flood it out and make it a bear to start, pretty much the same as any saw I believe. No choke when warm out or saw is warmed up. I expect to get a lot more use out of this saw and if it lasts half as long as my old 08s I'll be very satisfied.

Strengths:
An excellent mid-sized saw, build is good and feels solid and it has a longish feeling which is nice for larger people. De-comp valve makes for easier starting and its anti-vibe system is very good. Side chain adjustment makes tightening a breeze and I like the fact it still has real bar nuts. Stihl's oiler technology works extremely well too, very little over oiling. The chainbrake system is very good and seems very reliable. Good power to weight ratio.

Weaknesses:
Not a fan of the new caps, would prefer older style screw-in ones. The lower teeth on the dawg are a bit wimpy if cutting anything with thick bark (there are however holes on the outer cover for another set, a good option to consider). Do not like the new tooless chain adjustment system on the C models, give me good old nuts any day. The chainbrake is a tad close for those with big mitts (or thick gloves), I'm sure that can be easily remedied though. It has been mentioned that a few of the ignition modules have been replaced on these saws due to heat causing 'delamination', but it does not appear to be common and I haven't had any problems yet. Not much else I can think of.

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