I am full of pointers! and other things according to some...

very, very rarely does a machine come out of the box with too much power.
IMO, there is no such thing as too much power. the dealer made that comment
in an attemp to sell the machine on its strong engine. he wasn't thinking
about steep ascending rocky trails and the potential for disaster all that
power can create on those types of trails. as said over and over, different
strokes for different folks. if you are more of a "Honda type" don't forget
that NO HONDA ATV COMES WITH 4WD, so if you are into hairy terrain where
momentum cannot be generated, such as rock crawling, you don't want to be
the "Honda type". to date, Honda "4WD" ATV's come with a "torque-sensitive"
front differential. this means you CANNOT lock in all four wheels for
CONSTANT power at all four corners, what you do get is the POTENTIAL for
power at all four, otherwise you get 3WD. in slow going rough terrain it is
not uncommon to see a Honda with one front tire with footing and the other
in the air, guess which one is spinning... this is not a Honda bashing, I
can only speculate, but Honda is probably still feeling the sting of its
many legal battles associated with the early 3 Wheelers and may be worried
about more of the same by offering a 4 Wheeler with a locking front diff, a
locking front diff does create steering difficulties. I ride a Polaris
SP600 and the hardcore "crawlers" don't like them either because the AWD
cannot be locked in. the rear tires of an AWD Polaris machine must slip 1/5
of a turn for the fronts to engage, but the fronts ALWAYS spin together
once engaged. myself, I have never noticed the fraction of a second it
takes to have AWD, but I can see where the ability to lock in all four
wheels yourself would be desirable. I don't want this to turn into a 4WD
debate, that topic has been beat to death.

moving on, you need to determine the type of terrain you will be riding on
and what you will mostly be using the machine for, play, work, etc. figure
out how much power you want then buy something with even more power! look
at the features of the machine, instrumentation, different brake
configurations, transmission types, suspension travel, clearance. you can
get all the specs online so once you prioritise your riding style and
requirements you can usually narrow it down to a few machines. back in '04
when I was facing your dilemna I widdled it down to the SP600 and the
Prairie 700. I knew I wasn't gonna be tearing up any difficult trails, just
playing around the yard, ranch, and blasting through fields. the Kawi
seemed the better choice, faster and sportier, but the Polaris had much more
suspension and clearance, way more comfortable too. maintenance wise, the
Kawi had two carbs to worry about and the transmission had more components
including electronic intervention for engine braking which went in the cons
list for me. then I got the chance to sit on them side by side, done deal.
the Polaris was an F-250 and the Prairie an S-10 or Ranger, so to speak. I
liked the heft of the Polaris, the simple transmission and single brake
lever.

IMO, the Kawasaki trans with the servo motor for engine braking is the
weakest of the Auto transmissions, the Suzuki set up with the "wet clutch"
is a very durable design and the belt is always tight, the Yamaha set up is
similar and also praised. the Polaris design is basically a snowmobile
trans with mechanical clutching to maintain belt tension for engine braking,
I have never had any trouble with mine and have put many hours on the
machine towing very heavy loads of well over 1000 lbs. have only smelled
the belt a few times when trying to pull something that wouldn't budge and
trying not to slip the tires. the Honda torque converter trans is a great
idea, I have only heard complaints about the lack of crawling gearing, maybe
a reduction system would help in the future. liquid or air cooled? that's
easy, liquid. carb or EFI? not so easy, don't know if the bugs are out
yet, if they are then it's EFI! suspension? tough one. SRA has few moving
parts but also much less ground clearance and articulation for rough
terrain. brakes? discs all around for sure, the Japanese use the motocycle
configuration I think and Cat and Polaris have the one lever on the right
that controls all four. appearance, seat of the pants feel, handlebar
relation to seat, chassis size for transport purposes in a truck bed or
trailer, stock tires, underbelly protection, lighting set up and quality,
storage compartments, load/towing capacity, just so much to think about.

lots to think about and consider, plenty of opinions and pointers to weed
through also. whatever you do, DON'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING THE DEALER HAS TO
SAY! sure, you have to put up with them in order to go check the machines
out in person, just don't take any of their advise. you are best off to do
your homework and go in smarter than they are, it's not hard, believe me,
then you can ask them questions that they can't answer and it doesn't take
too many for them to leave you alone.

good luck!