I purchase a 5k portable Honda unit a few years ago. When I brought it home I got major-league eye rolls from my wife and daughters. (As in, why do we need one of those?)
We've now used it for several extended storm outages and it's been VERY useful! It's got enough power to cover our boiler (heat and hot water), sump pump, refridgerator, lights, tv etc. With a bit of load balancing we can use the microwave oven. So all in all it made things pretty comfortable. And I get big points for being smart enough to have bought it.
We had a transfer switch installed so I basically just need to plug the generator in to the connection box located in our garage and fire it up.
This particular model has an inverter and puts out "clean" power so we can use computers or other sensitive electronics without risk of damage from surges or dropouts. Also has what Honda calls an Eco-throttle in that power output (rpms) is based on load demand. So if you're not putting much load on it it runs at lower rpm, using less fuel.