I followed someones advice once and it was the best thing I ever did. Don't stress over brand name - just get something that is NOT belt driven. The belts will drive you crazy. Shafts, gears, discs, whatever are head and shoulders above belt driven. I ended up buying a mid priced Snapper. It has some crazy rubber covered disc drive. It's 14 years old and the only service I've EVER done on it is
oil and spark plugs - the thing is tough as nails. My last mower was belt drive and every year I was under the darn thing.