mike, I would go with what the manual says. As for brands, I don't know, I think most major brands are great now days. Now, if you were talking about 2-cycle non-outboard oil - for me it's Stihl! I use Stihl oil in very old 2-cycle chain saws and cutters at 50:1. But you are asking about 4 cycle. For that, I do like full synthetics.