First of all, I hope I am being informative and not coming across rude. I feel this thread is seeming a little hostile and that is certainly not my intention. I am not trying to talk you out of the pioneer, it's an excellent machine and its 1 of the top contenders for my next purchase. It sounds like you are 90% sold on it and are just waiting to see the general just to confirm what you already know, that you want the pioneer. I think you will be quite happy with either. I will absolutely concede if a $16-17k price tag, 1000cc motor, EPS, and a dump bed are all you're looking for then these 2 are the closest competitors, but if you didn't feel the need to spend that much you could always buy a Defender Hd10 (1000cc), commander 1000 or a Prowler 1000 and use the $ saved on accessories.
Also, you state that the pioneer has more of everything but that isn't true either. The general has 2-3 more inches of Suspension travel and 23 more HP, which brings me to my next point, more displacement doesn't always mean more power. The Pioneer 1000 puts out 77 HP. Heres a list of a few of the other naturally aspirated 1000cc motors on the market. I will also add here that on a work machine torque is the number that matters most but those numbers are seldom published.
Rzr XP 1000-110 hp
Rzr S 1000- 100 Hp
General 1000- 100 Hp
Wildcat X 1000- 90+ Hp
Prowler 1000- 70+ Hp
Maverick 1000- 101 Hp
Commander 1000- 85 Hp
Defender HD10- 72 Hp
YXZ 1000- 112 Hp
Now here's a list of 800-900cc motors that put out similar hp to the Pioneer 1000
Rzr Jagged X 900- 92hp
Rzr XP 900- 88 Hp
Rzr S 900- 75 Hp
Ranger XP 900- 68 hp
Commander 800- 71 hp
To put that into perspective, your rhino 700 was putting out 40hp at the crank from the factory. I am not trying to be argumentative, I'm just giving examples of how much variation there is in the output of the motors. Several 1000 class motors are actually less powerful than some much smaller motors and that depending on how they are tuned, the Polaris 900 can vary in power output by 32hp.The Can am 1000 varies by 29, and the arctic cat by at least 20. I'm sure the torque numbers also vary greatly. Basically, don't get hung up on displacement numbers, they seldom tell the whole story.
Also, both of my kawasaki Teryx's had true locking front diffs just like your Rhino so I understand what it means to have locked differentials. I also had a 2000 Honda Foreman 450S with an open front diff that left me stuck many times. I have vowed to never own another Atv/utv without a fully locked front diff. Polaris's system works well, however I am not as impressed with can am's 4wd system, it tends to be a little slow to engage.
The best footage I can find of my Rzr demonstrating the locked front axle is in the video below. If you fast forward to 1:55 you will see my black Rzr xp900 with all 4 tires pulling hard on the slick rock in Moab. If it wasn't locked only 3 would be spinning. For the record, I am in no way affiliated with RMATVMC, just a happy customer who was lucky enough to win a trip to Moab.
http://youtu.be/FVHAPtDDvok