Well, I spent the $89 for the HF gen on tent sale. Spent a few minutes talking to an employee and, of course, he had nothing bad to say. But, DH has bought several things from HF and the only problem he had was an electric gauge "thingy", whatever it does is not part of my job description, and it did go south. It was out of warranty period, but he took it back anyway, just to see if maybe he'd get lucky. Bingo! Can't complain about them replacing something that is out of warranty for sure. Since several have mentioned the spark plug that is included leaves much to be desired, I will get one for his stocking. I think for his purposes, it'll do a good job, is a handy size that will fit easily into his RC trailer and I think he'll be happy.
Before reminding me how good the Honda gens are, remember that we had one years ago and it was great and was our fault it died so early. But to charge a battery for charging other batteries for his RC, several hundred dollars or more is overkill. If he has problems, the receipt is tucked safely away and he can drive 10 miles and get it resolved. Thanks for all the input and hope for those grins, as predicted.