My opinion i have is that EXCEPT for the toro commercial 21 mowers and that new turf master mower i dont see why you would buy a toro over a honda. the toros from the 1990s were built so much better then the mowers now like i used to own 20436 and 20438s and those were good mowers especiallly for there time. For a residential mower or light commercial you would be nuts not to buy honda hrx217hxa. they sell around here for 699 you would be nuts not to spend a little more to get the hrx. then high up from there would be a honda hrc216hxa or if you are a diehard toro guy the proline 22198 is reallly nice also or higher from there would be the toro 30iinch mower that looks commercial built. i have both honda hrc, hrx and toro proline 21 with suzuki 2 stoke and my opinions is that they are all great great mowers but you cant compare the toro to the hondas. driveshaft to belt, hydro to belt drive, handlebars on honda with big braces to toro, steel deck with deck guards vs cast alum. no guards honda mulching compared to toro, really its not close, honda bagging cut so fine with 2 blades and the vacuum it creates is just awsome, etc i could go on all day but those are my thoughts of owning about every freekin mower you could image or have used. Let me know what you think. Honda has them all covered but only one somewhat close to it is toro proline 21, then snappers, exmarks, lawn boys etc etc