Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

BE WARNED: If you are not mechanically inclined this is not the saw for you. Then again, if you are not mechanically inclined, you have little to no business buying a sliding compound mitre saw in the first place. This thing required everything to be reset, adjusted and dialed in. Firstly, ditch the blade. I didnt even spin the saw up before replacing it because if there is one common theme among reviews, its that the blade is abysmal. I replaced with a dewalt 80T because I got a good deal on a three pack. Next, align the fence. Mine was off by a good bit. Loosen it up, square it to the blade with a square, then dial in with a test cut, and flip the board over to see if the angle is still off. Then, align the set screw stop for the bevel. There's a movable blockout lever which allows you to select single bevel (to the left) or double bevel with no stop at 90. Make sure the lever is tight, then adjust the set screw to ensure the blade is cutting at 90 where the stop is. I was lucky that the angle markings were right on after this. You may need to adjust the pointer somehow, or just compensate mentally for a degree or two difference. The laser on mine was adjusted all the way to the left, but it actually indicated the right side of the blade. I am used to the laser indicating the left side, but its not that big a deal. I may add an aftermarket centrifugal blade mounted laser so that it indicated *both* sides of the blade. The sliding / removable left upper fence was a little bent, but a few measured blows with a mallet on my garage floor fixed that - part removed from saw, of course. Truthfully, I have never, and likely will never use an upper fence. Make a jig for large crown moulding or else youre asking for poor cuts with just about any saw. The slide, the turret, and the bevel action are all smooth, and the tightness adjustment works well, allowing you to dial in resistance for each. I will say that the bevel tightness offers a little more resistance in one direction compared to the other. Understandably, some people will be turned off to having to do this much adjustment to a brand new saw out of the box. But I wouldn't blindly trust any factory adjustments regardless of brand. Shipping and regular use will easily throw things out of whack, and saws will always need routine maintenance and readjustment. For this reason, none of the above bothered me in the slightest. All in all, family handyman was pretty spot on. The saw doesn't lack much. Its got plenty of power, is fairly tight and smooth, and ultimately, it cuts well once tuned up. Sure you can buy a better saw, but you wont touch one for even triple this price.