Krane

I spoke to him at a show and recall he is a development or engineer type. Hence the dryness you noted. He isn't a salesman, as you mentioned.

As others have said, stick with Makita if it has worked well for you. I have Makita LXT and I have been happy with it. The new XPH07M drill is beastly. Throw in a bare brushless 3 speed impact and you have a great kit.

Ya, maybe the girls in blue and black can be innovative with the new inkzall and sign posters.

I've been getting 20-30 minutes on high speed.

I recently went ahead and bought this Makita DCL500Z vacuum for quick clean up and just to use around the house. I saw on some forums that people thought it was a pointless waste for Makita to release and I worried it may not be a great tool after reading those comments. Well, let me just say that until you try something it is really hard to say if it is good or bad, and let me tell you that this vacuum is great. It has a lot of suction on low or high speed. The construction of the vacuum really has it going after a Dyson. The quality of the vacuum is surprising, as it seems really solid. It has some really nice features that I didn't expect. It has nice rolling wheels on the bottom, but not only that, one of the wheels swivels 360 degrees so it can easily be towed behind you if you choose to pull it. It also has a nice carrying strap that has a good amount of padding. This thing is pretty quiet too, not hard on the ears. The provided hose, crevice nozzle, and floor attachment are great and I'm glad those were in the box and not something you had to buy later. It works very well on hard wood, tile, concrete, and does ok on carpet. Since the floor attachment has no rollers or brushes I didn't expect it to do fantastic on carpet. There is a low battery indicator on the tool that lets you know it's bout time to get a fresh battery. The filter system on this bad boy is pretty clever, as the whole filter system pops out cleanly so you can take it to the trash to empty. There is also a filter cleaning light to let you know it's time to empty the filter.The filter mechanism slides in and out with ease and the reusable filter is nice. This vacuum is the same one they sell in Europe and it's rated HEPA there, but it says nothing about HEPA on the US site. The true test is the wife used the Makita vacuum...and she was the one who was really excited saying how easy to use it was and how well it worked. I'd say it's a good buy for multi-purpose use for around the house or shop. Makita DCL500Z: http://www.makitatools.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?Name=DCL500Z

I guess it's easy to google just about any problem a person might have with any product. I know what experiences I have had with Makita batteries and many others that I know personally. I also know how many Dewalt Nicad batteries go dead and how often. There is also a deep rooted psychology when people get angry and decide to let the world know. What's the old saying, "When someone has a bad experience they tell 20 people and when someone has a good experience you probably won't hear about it".

There are plenty of fanbois on TIA and every forum, for every brand. Many of the New tools from the symposium have been in the Makita line for years, many years. The battery charging faster causes problems, what would you expect a company to say that doesn't have the fast charge time? Careful bashing charge times as you know Milwaukee has the "rapid charger" coming soon, will that be groundbreaking new tech? As far as counting tools, all companies count every tool, fan, light, etc.

What'd ya need it to do iron your clothes for ya? King of the hill is a game car manufacturers do it and we see it more and more in tools these days.

I'll say the charge times from Makita are impressive, twice as fast charge time over Milwaukee is quick. I don't recall the exact dates but it feels like Dewalt just released 4.0 within the last few months. I don't see any 5.0ah from Milwaukee on their website, are they in the wild yet? I would think the cost associated with 3, 4, and 5ah batteries will prevent some people from buying one over the other.

Makita is the only one with a 5" Cordless RO sander at this time, to my knowledge.

I have to interject here and say that if you like the M18 Fuel saw then you should try the Makita X2 circ saw. I think a buddy called it beast mode. It rips.

Go 4 stroke and most of your gas problems tend to go away.

It has a battery gauge from the picture in the first post. I thought you guys were the bloggers or writers. You can choose to create buzz on what items you pick right? Do certain manufacturers send you guys demos and new product info to get buzz going or how does it work.

Funny thing is this new tool blows away anything out there and yet still more negative posts. If it was red would it be groundbreaking? Ford vs Chevy. I don't see the talk about "where have you been". Makita has been an innovator in the industry. It seems most believe everything they read. Makita has been first and front running in many of the coolest new tools I've read about. Seems like some companies just get more press. Makita was the first with 18v lithium, hasn't changed the battery platform with lithium, first with brushless, largest lithium line, X2 tools, and that's just cordless. Ford vs Chevy.

It's funny because Makita's year old brushed drill at 750inlbs., already has more power than Milwaukee's brushless, at 725 inlbs. So pulling their heads out of the sand doesn't fit in my opinion.

I played with the X2 circ saw the other day at a store. It had some power, that's for sure. It was also very smooth, easy to make cuts. The electric brake was real nice. Interesting read from COPtool.

Go cordless

Well, everyone has an opinion, but I don't see it as earth shattering. It is good R&D to update tools, for sure, and I love to see innovation in power tools. It's not the first cordless full size band saw on the market. Milwaukee actually beat themselves to that with a M28 version many moons ago. Makita has also had one in their 18v lxt line for quite some time. They both had what most commercial contractors would call corded power. They both cut faster than their corded brothers. So, Milwaukee went brushless and added some capacity. Good stuff, but nothing for me to personally fawn over, having previous experience with other units, and five years or more ago.

Bottle opener is a nice touch and put to good use by you on a Friday.

Looks like that is an option for $20 more. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Volt-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Hybrid-Cordless-with-Free-Circular-Saw-LXT238X1-BSS611Z/205173406

Full size 7-1/4 blade is a huge step in the right direction. I wonder what the power difference is between the Fuel and X2.

We know which way you lean, no need to get snippy, tiger. What took them so long is the question.

That's my point, lol, it's been done.

Makita Impact Gold, no comparison unless you go with something like a Wera that will $et you Back $ome $$$.

I've had the Makita 18V full size band saw for a while now. Not much new here except the added capacity and the brushless option.