This will not fit the needs of more serious trimming at all, but for a home owner with just a few branches out of reach, I have had a Ryobi brand 18 volt pole saw for several years now and have cut hundreds of branches with it.
I have a dozen or more other Ryobi 18v tools, so the batteries fitting the saw is a plus for me.
Not fast and not professional grade, but for just over a hundred bucks for the occasional out if reach limb it starts and runs on the first trigger pull every time.
As far as brands I used Homelite in the olden days with good success, went to Sthil (and still have one small one), but currently use two Echo saws and could not be happier.
My son still has a two cylinder John Deere branded Echo chain saw from years ago that is kind of a collectors item now. It was a good saw (for its time).
