[crownvic02]

New to this board and need some advice.

Going to be doing crown moulding through the entire house and putting in a Pergo type floor. Have been trying to decide which of the two saws to buy.

The Hitachi comes with the laser guide which seems pretty nice but don't know if those are overrated or not for me the novice. Accessories seem to be a little difficult to find for this saw as well and the ones I did find were expensive. (crown stop etc.)

The Dewalt is well...a Dewalt. Not knowing anything about saws I know the Dewalt name and thats about it. Dewalts laser add-on didn't get good reviews from what I read.

Price is about $80 more for the Dewalt.

What do you all think I should do?

 

[Big Dave]

I personally like the Dewalt products. Always had good luck with them. I don't care for the laser and don't trust them so that function doesn't appeal to me either way.

That being said the Hitachi is a good product too. I've never owned one but they seem to get good reviews. When I look at a new saw I go for how the table is set up as far as good material support, easy adjustment and so forth. How it feels in your hand is another thing to consider. Some saws feel great and some just don't fit the hand. Also look at how the visability is when your starting to cut into a piece of wood. Does the guard hinder being able to see the mark easily and so on. These are my thoughts so take them for what they are.

 

[TexasTimbers]

Try not to fall into the brand trap.

Try to focus on features, ease of use etc. over brand name and color. Read user reviews on each tool. Why not consider Bosch and Makita as well. Not because they are Bosch or Makita but because thier miter saws are generally accepted as superior to the brands you mention although I like alot of Hitachi products as well. I am very biased againist DeWalt so ignore me on that one.

Here, and amazon.com is a good place to start on user reviews. Check out the tool in person if you can. If you can afford it, consider getting a slider. A 10" slider is more versatile than a 12" fixed IMHO. The laser on my Makita is spot on. I mean exact too. Saves a bunch of time.

Whatever you get, pretty much all of the top brands are superior to anything available even 10 years ago. Except the DeWalt of course. :thumbdown:

 

[crownvic02]

I read the sliders can get a little sloppy over time. Around here (S.E. Michigan) it is hard to find the Bosch or Makita in stores (at least the non-sliding ones). (Reviews on amazon came in at Dewalt at 4.6 and the Hitachi at 4.0.) I guess I am at the point of laser vs. no laser. If the laser is not a useful gadget then I would probably buy the Dewalt.

 

[Steve G.]

Well think about it, if the the hitachi has more features (laser etc..) and is $80 cheaper than the dewalt, than the dewalt must have an upper hand somewhere. Probably in quality but maybe they just have a big enough name to bump prices up a notch. Personally I would think in that case the dewalt is better. No I'm not biased and I'm not a dewalt salesperson. In fact most of my tools are ryobi so I probably shouldn't even be talking about this in the first place.

 

[TexasTimbers]

Steve your opinion is as valid as anyones yes you should be talking about it as long as you are so inclined. In fact, since you are quite young, yours is probably more valid than mine as you have not yet been biased against a company like I have.

 

[Steve G.]

yours is probably more valid than mine as you have not yet been biased against a company like I have.

Well, I'm biased towards black & Decker.....for obvious reasons:laughing:

 

[crownvic02]

Thanks for the input gentlemen. I am buying the Dewalt after going to the store and looking at them side by side again. Dewalts fence was sturdier then the Hitachi (Hitachis had a little give to it when pushed), the miter mechanism was better, and the accessories were readily available and cheaper. I couldn't find any Hitachi accesories in the stores, and the crown stops for example were $60 for Hitachi vs under $30 for Dewalt. The laser feature from all the reading I've done isn't that big of a deal. A lot of people complained that it was hard to get spot on and that it wouldn't stay that way for long and that it only lined up on one side of the blade. I can always add the laser to the Dewalt later if I want to try it out. Plus Dewalt was founded in the good old U. S. of A.

 

[Steve G.]

Glad you went with dewalt, there's a reason they have a name!