I went through this exact phase last year. The "emergency" generator for under $500 deal. After months of looking and comparing my options in that price range I decided that my expectations were out of sync with the reality of these expensive things. Being that my ultimate purpose is to use this for emergency scenarios, I came to the conclusion that I might as well pony up some more money and get something that can do little more than power my fridge since it IS for emergencies.

I went with a broke my choices down to yamaha, robin/subaru or honeywell (honda) within the same price range.

I ended up buying a yamaha Inverter EF2400
2007 Yamaha Inverter EF2400iSHC Home, information

this thing is super quiet.