Ariens vs. Troy Bilt Snowthower?

Ariens 8524 at Home Depot vs. Troy Bilt 8526 at Lowe's.  Both $999.

Both 8.5 HP
Ariens 24", Troy Bilt 26" clearing path
Ariens steel chute, Troy Bilt plastic chute
Ariens has nicer chute turn mechanism
Troy Bilt has remote chute angle adj.   Ariens is manual.
Ariens has taller chute
Ariens has 15" tires, Troy Bilt is 16"
The serrations on the Ariens auger are more aggressive.
Ariens has 3 yr warrantee, Troy Bilt has 2 yr warrantee.

Based on the above, and the fact that I see a lot of Ariens snowblowers in
Central Mass. (Worcester), I'm leaning to Ariens.  I would appreciate your
recommendations.

Also, Ariens has some more expensive versions of the 8524 available from
Ariens Dealers.  As far as I can tell, the only additional features are
differential lockout on the wheel instead of using pins (what is the
advantage?), and larger tires.  Are those really worth the extra price, or
are there additional features I'm missing.

Thanks,

Radu