Valiente, good luck with the new honda. I/QUOTE]
I got a bit of a deal because I bought a Honda 2 HP four-stroke with it as a package deal, but I'm sure it's dropped in price since the boat show as the Canadian dollar's rise has worked its way through the distribution channels.
Anyway, the dealer filled both items with gas and oil and ran them to check for problems, and delivered them for free to my house (I don't have a car). At this stage, while not averse to paying less, I am attentive to the sort of relationships I build with dealers and service people, as I can't do all the technical things I need to have done on the boat preparatory to long-term cruising.
My purchases were dictated in large part by what my five-foot-tall wife (she's young and strong...within limits...) can lift. She can haul the outboard one-handed (about 13 kgs. "filled" with a litre of gas and the half-litre of gear oil it takes), which means she can launch either tender by herself with the aid of a bridle or a safety line.
The Honda 2000 she can dead lift, but it's at the limit (about 23 kgs.) of what she can lift horizontally out of a locker.
I fired up the Honda 2000 on the back porch stairs (only recently snow-free in this longest of winters) and it started on the first pull. The choke has quite a wide range and the revs increase substantially when the mix is leaned out. I plugged in a 1500 W hair dryer as a test and the motor "note" barely changed. I am going to plug in a small wet/dry vacuum cleaner and a 1/2 in. drill as a harder test of the AC limits, and will try a string of lightbulbs, just to check it out on that score.
The main job this will do aboard is allow me to do AC power jobs on deck at anchor: power washing, vacuuming, grinding, drilling, running a compressor, etc. While I have a 2000 W charger/inverter will have plenty of battery capacity, it is simply more efficient to use a gas genset for relatively brief jobs that eat a few amps. I also intend to use it as a way to run emergency pumps and perhaps to charge the anchor windlass battery.
This means that I have the OPTION...but not the necessity...to draw down my DC banks with inverted AC power. My preference would be to use this inverter-supplied AC for light charging of devices, a strong light for the engine room when needed, or things like a coffee grinder, a mini-microwave, or "DVD night".
Because I plan on "segregating" my amp usage between the inverter's AC and the genset's AC (the genset being more efficient in some senses), I hope to keep the fridge, the DC fans and the LED lights running on solar/wind and to avoid using the alternator to make electricity the customary cruiser way.