Camping Life magazine tested several http://www.campinglife.com/cam.....shoot-out/ recently. They list just three -- Honda, Yamaha and Robin Subaru -- online but I thought they had some others in print. A few other inverter generators are Briggs & Stratton, Generac, Hyundai and Honeywell.

I've been starting to research them since we decided to buy one that we can use for camping and use to power a few critical circuits at home in case of a power outage. A local small equipment dealer said he's been very happy with Briggs & Stratton. They spec out equivalent to Honda but are much more affordable.

John

I have a Yamaha 2400 Efs and really like it. I bought it with the intention of being able to power the AC when dry camping.
Haven't done that yet (3 years). Since I've never powered the AC, I almost wish I had gotten the 2000 efs as it's a lot lighter. The 2400 is around 76 lbs without fuel.
The 2000 is about 25 lbs lighter. I've been around the Hondas and Yamahas and they are quality, quiet units even when running at full throttle.

I really like the Honda's.  I don't own one  :'( but use them a lot with my Fire Department.  We have both Honda 1000s and 2000s.  We have had them for years and never an issue.  They start on the first pull and are very quiet.

it would help knowing size and brand of your a/c.

most 13.5 a/c's can be run by the Yamaha 2400. if you have a smaller a/c, you could possibly use a 2000w generator.
the big 3 quiet inverter generators are Honda, Yamaha and Kipor.
there are a number of new Chinese-made inverter generators under numerous brand names. Boliy is the best of these and will run probably all 13.5 a/c's.
some other of these new brands are Magna, Dometic, Hyundai, Ramsond, ETQ and Powerhouse.
most of these are all made in the same 2 or 3 factories and some look exactly the same, just by a different name.

Not sure if the OP has already made his decision or not, but I'm making this decision right now.

I'd love to be able to get a quiet generator to power the AC on the pup.  But that means at least the Yamaha 2400is and that's about $1400.  I really thought about it and in the 6 years that I've had the pup, I've used the AC on maybe 4 camping trips.  Granted, I really needed the AC on those trips.  But the numbers just don't justify the bigger generator for me.  Add to it I've seen reports like Biken201's that it won't reliably run the AC and it really brings home that I probably won't get the 2400is.

I decided that what I really need is something to recharge the battery in the pup.  I have 7000 watt generator to run the house in case of power outage, so a small generator is all that I need.

So I did some research on the smaller generators.  The Honeywell, Generac and other 1000 watt generators sold on Amazon for about $300 jumped out at me.  But I've read MANY negative reviews about them.  I pretty much decided on a Honda or Yamaha 1000 watt generator.  I've found that these are in the $730 range.  Much more than the Honeywell and other cheaper generators, but way less than that 2400is.  I think that I'll likely buy the Yamaha ef 1000is.  I like the styling better than the Honda and other than that, they are pretty much equivalent generators.

Bux,

If you do bring the generac, I hope I'm not your neighbor.

Here is a great guide for sizing portable generators. It even has a section at the bottom for recreational use ..

http://www.norwall.com/blog/ge.....enerators/

This guide helped us a lot when tryin to decide on the size of generator that was right for us

That Champion 3100W looks sweet.  Seems like a great deal.  It's $950 on Amazon, but they are out of stock. 

I'm now in the market for a small generator.  I've always looked at the little off brand 1000W units. It does make sense to look at the bigger Honda or Yamaha, but my main reason to use one is to recharge my battery.

[quote author=Storm Trooper link=topic=1295.msg21911#msg21911 date=1363895859]
I don't know anything about the Champion, but I suspect it's Chinese and repairs centers if ever needed are probably few and far between.
Make sure you have one nearby, otherwise shipping on those genny's is usually not covered for repair and any savings you had could be eaten up quickly.

though made in China, Champion is an American company that has their generators made to their specs and they have a nationwide repair network and great customer support.
i don't own one but have been tempted to sell my Honda 2000 and but a couple of their 2000 units and parallel kit or now the 3100 model.
they have a great reputation on all the RV forums.