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Read a bunch of reviews and it seems to be favored over the Ridgid 2401. Home Depot has a rebate and one can be bought for $108. I'm thinking I should pick one up.

I'm very happy with the Rigid, especially with the lifetime service warranty. I made my final choice based on how comfortable it was to hold compared to the Colt, Dewalt, and Porter Cable.

Diane Kauffmds wrote:I'm very happy with the Rigid, especially with the lifetime service warranty. I made my final choice based on how comfortable it was to hold compared to the Colt, Dewalt, and Porter Cable.

Thanks Diane! HD has those with a sander (online only) for $99.

I like the fact that the Dewalt has led lights on it. I never had problems with seeing anything until about age 45. Now anything within arms reach is fuzzy. lol

kinspeed wrote:
I like the fact that the Dewalt has led lights on it. I never had problems with seeing anything until about age 45. Now anything within arms reach is fuzzy. lol

At 62 I can say it gets worse, lots and lots of light helps. I remember when I was in my 20's reading in a photographic darkroom waiting while prints sat in the fixer.

I like dewalt routers, My dewalt is my full sized router. I have gotten to the point where I dedicate a compact router per purpose to avoid changing out jigs and setups. So I look at what bases are being supported by the various jigs I want to use. So I have a couple colts, a rigid and a couple of Porter cable 310 routers.

The height adjustment on the DeWalt is much more accurate and easier to adjust than that on the Ridgid. If it matters to you, the consensus seems to be that the Ridgid generally has more runout. I've measured three new Ridgids and two Dewalts and the Dewalts had much less runout. Though I don't recall the numbers, the Ridgids were so bad that I returned them. The DeWalt is good enough to use as the spindle on my CNC router, like a couple of thousandths measured an inch from the collet. I also use one in my binding jig and I like it much better than the Ridgid that I used to have, mostly because of the ease of setting the target height.

I've got the DeWalt and mostly like it. I do like the fact that one can buy additional collets for it from this company: http://elairecorp.com/dewaltroutercollets.html

I bought the 1/8" and 3/16" collets to supplement the standard 1/4" collet, which lets me use 3/16" shank end mills and all the 1/8" shank Dremel-style cutters. The collets are well made and more roubust, I think, than the Bosch Colt collets.

I did have to replace the brushes after what seemed a rather short time, but I use the router in a CNC router setup where it can run for hours on end, so probably the rate of brush wear is in fact not out of a "normal" range.

I'd probably get another one, if I were choosing again.

Maybe this will help. The only thing I saw incorrect was that they said Rigid had a 3 year warranty. Mine is lifetime, but I had to register it to get the warranty. Also, I'm not sure if this is limited to purchasing it at Home Depot.

http://www.researchcore.org/todays-best ... s-reviews/

Interesting that the Bosch Colt got top marks in this review, which notes the one year warranty. Mine lasted just barely past the warranty period and then the bearings failed after light, occasional use.

saltytri wrote:Interesting that the Bosch Colt got top marks in this review, which notes the one year warranty. Mine lasted just barely past the warranty period and then the bearings failed after light, occasional use.

You never know who is doing the review or if they're compensated. The Bosch Colt seemed the choice of luthiers, but i found it uncomfortable to hold, and if I remember right, it has the metal plates. I like plastic, where I can easily see what I'm doing. I love the Ridgid for several reasons. To each his own.

I have the ridgid and the PC
I prefer the ridgid

just my 2 cents
The amount of runout was about .010 but when you are using a bearing that makes the run out moot.