I bought this to try and improve the dust collection (DC) and avoid paying for the Festool. i was using a mortising jig and having trouble clearing the chips, dramatically increasing the time i was taking. So i sold my porter cable (PC) with the plunge base and bought this yella machine.
Positives:
-not that expensive (~$200)
-soft start is nice
-on / off button is easy to reach and work
-depth stop is decent
-the plunge base has a flat side that is helpful (the PC was round which is not a reliable in my view for doing longer grooves)
-hard to lose because it is yellow
-not as loud at my PC
Negatives:
-it does have DC in the post but it works poorly
-you have to put a clear shroud around the bit to get what you can out of the DC which nearly completely obscures your view
-the collet lock designer should be in jail, just give me two wrenches.....i find the spring loaded collet lock to be annoying
-the same clear shrouds for DC limit the plunge travel
-the plunge travel up is not as far as my old porter cable, some standard bits (whiteside 3/8 dia. 1.5 inch plunge bit) stick beyond base when all the way up
-the plunge lever is the WORST
*my old PC would stay in place when you let off the lever, you had to pull the lever to move and it sprung back
*this one has to be pressed and then pressed back, no spring back, which is a crucial thing when you are trying to be accurate or hold the router steady
*the lever pops out of lock and then router shoots up out of the plunged position (wrecked a couple jigs already
*the PC never popped out of lock so you could use bearing guided bits and collars for hours with no worries
Final - if this was your first router, you'd probably like it. you wouldn't know how others worked. if you went from an old craftsman to this, you'd be thrilled. but if you are really fighting the dust war, really starting to use your router for some cool joinery and mortising applications, or have dreams of what you envision as festool performance.....don't buy this. Also, when i put this up for sale on the classifieds after christmas.....ignore this message.