Stihl is the best. I have a couple Husqvarnas and I wish they were stihls. I wouldn't touch poulan, echo, or any other brand. Stick with the reliables. Husky (husqvarna) is good, but stihl is better made.

I think your real issue is going to be the fact that your using a gas mix in the saw that has been sitting in the saw for awhile. Once your done using the saw, and you know your not going to crank it back up for another year or so I'd dump the gas out of it and run it til it's out of the line. Then buy some of that stuff that extends the life of gas (can't remember what its called) and mix it in with the left over gas mix you have, but I wouldn't leave it in the saw.