Thanks for the heads up dwh. Dont know to much about the champion engines are they any good? Hows the noise level. I like the idea about the controls as you stated. I have to check them out , really like the honda but they are expensive. I know you get what you pay for but I also am trying to save a buck or two when ever possible.
On the RV.net forums, there is naturally a lot of discussion about running RV a/c units on generators. Generally, the 1600w Honda just doesn't have the oomph to fire a 15k unit, and not enough for most of the 13.5k units. So you can either spend double and gang two of them, or go for a 3000w generator. A lot of people have gone with the lowbuck 3000w normal type gens that can be had for under $500, in particular, the Champions, which have their own thread on that forum.
Champion has a pretty good rep with those guys. It's a California company which apparently has its own factory in China (or so they claim) so they have better control over quality, and everything is built to their specs. Customer service seems to be pretty good too. I have a Honeywell, and it's made for Northshore Power Systems by the Yongkang Xingguang company, which makes a LOT of different inverter generators. It's a decent generator, and Northshore's customer service has been excellent. I bought it for the higher rating (2000w continuous instead of 1600w like the others), but I haven't needed the extra watts, so my next one will likely be the Champion.
The Champion has the same rating as a Honda/Yamaha/Kipor/B&S/etc., but half the price of the Honda/Yamaha. The engine is 80cc which is the same as the Yamaha. All inverter gens are pretty quiet.
As for the engines - not an issue really. Almost all the failure reports I've seen have been electronics failures, not failures of the drive engine. I've had two of the Honeywells fail and been replaced under warranty - one was a problem in the stator and the other a problem with a control board - both times the engine was still cooking along just fine.
One important thing is the variable throttle. For instance at least one of Kipors runs at either low or high throttle - no in between. Looking at the specs on that B&S you asked about, I suspect it may be the same deal there. The Honeywell has a fully variable throttle that will ramp up according to load like the Honda/Yamaha. I -think- the Champion does too but can't swear to it.
They start really discussing the Champion inverter gen on that thread around page 45 - enjoy:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24022161/srt/pa/pging/1/page/45.cfm