After owning junk mowers for the last 20 years, I am going to now pick
up a top of the line mowers. Looking for opinions.
My wife wants something she can start easilly, and use when I am being
lazy.
Self Propelled is a must, as on the mounds it is tough to get around
with human powered.

I struggled with junk mowers myself for years. The self propelled
mechanisms rarely worked right or constantly clogged up with grass. And by
the time I would get them started, I was too tired to mow the yard...

So, I bought a Honda mower about 16 years ago (HR214 I think?). It has
worked beautifully ever since and looks as good as the day I bought it.
Starts with just a pull or two, even if it has sat over the winter. It has
a compression release which makes it easier to pull start.

The only problems I have had are a rusted control cable and the electric
start on my model quit working a couple of years ago.

I hose off my mower after each use and water would get in the cable housing
and rust it. I found if I turn the control off so the cable is all the way
in the housing, the cable doesn't get wet and doesn't rust. Haven't had a
problem since.

The electric start on my model quit working a couple of years ago. I
replaced the battery, but I think the starter is frozen and needs
replacing. The starter is fairly expensive and it starts so easily by hand
that I haven't bothered fixing this yet.

My main reason for choosing the Honda was the self-propelled feature. Of
all the models I looked at, it was the only one that had a shaft drive. No
belts to stretch, and no chains to clog up with grass. I've had absolutely
no problems with the self-propelled feature since I bought the mower. My
low end model only has two speeds, one is a bit slower than normal walking
speed, two is a bit faster than normal walking speed. I use one for detail
work around trees and whatnot, then switch to two to take care of the bulk
of the yard.

I also like that the blade shuts off when I stop without having to turn off
the mower. Nice for traveling over gravel driveways and stuff. I think this
is a standard feature on today's mowers though.

"Quiet" would be nice, as I like to listen to radio while mowing.

I don't know if any mower is "quiet", but my Honda seems quieter than my
older mowers. In any case, the spinning blade seems to make a lot more
noise than the engine does. It gets much quieter when the blade disengages.

would use bagging for fall leaves (I have lots of those)

My Honda mower is a rear bagger and works great. Like I said, I hose off
the mower and the bag after each use. Still looking and working great after
all these years.

Anthony