re: Has anyone had experience with "Preditor" generators from Harbor Freight?

Inverter generators are cleaner in the type of power they deliver. Suitable for sensitive electronics like computers and the like. Conventional generators need to run at a constant RPM because that sets the frequency of the AC power and the voltage and they use a throttle governor to maintain that RPM as load increases. Most appliances, power tools, lights, etc don't care if the power coming in is off by a few cycles/second or the voltage fluctuates as load on the generator changes. Computers, small electronics, and clocks do care about that and can be damaged by sudden spikes caused by the generator loading/unloading. Inverter generators condition the power by taking the noisy AC off the alternator, rectifying it to DC and filtering it, then inverting it back to AC. Since they are conditioning the power so much they don't need a fixed RPM and they can run at a lower RPM for noise reduction. This doesn't necessarily mean they are more efficient though, there are losses in the inverter cycle and they can actually be less fuel efficient in powering devices that don't need a clean power supply.