DEWALT 10-Inch Portable Table Saw with Stand (DWE7480XA)

I recently bought the DWE7480XA (with stand) as an upgrade from an older, working portable Skil table saw. Usually I don't tend to upgrade tools unless it is necessary; ie a tool breaks or is malfunctioning. But after a little research I saw enough reason to make this investment/upgrade while still having a decent working saw. I want to start off by saying that I don't typically favor Dewalt, or any single tool manufacturer. I own different tools from nearly every major manufacturer (except for Ryobi and Black and Decker) and I try to buy the tool that best fits my needs as a finish carpenter. The main features that set this saw apart from other manufacturer's saws were the rack and pinion fence system, riving knife, and good build quality/design with a relatively small overall footprint.The Dewalt fence design is unique, intelligent, and versatile, and is undoubtedly the best feature of this saw. The fence sits and clamps on a front and back rail that telescopes out in both directions when you spin the front adjustment wheel. The action is very smooth and small adjustments can be made easily by turning the wheel instead of slapping the fence. The fence can be easily adjusted for parallel by simply moving the sets of allen screw stops on the front and back of the fence. There are two pairs so you can quickly move the fence to another position and still maintain a good parallel to the blade. The fence clamps securely to the moving rails on both the front and back so it can be fixed securely without the Allen screws, but I like to use them to know that I am still nice and parallel. The fence also has an adjustable aluminum angle iron that flips around to support the work piece when it is adjusted beyond the work table. It can also be used on top of the table for cutting short/narrow work pieces and still give you room for the push stick. Speaking of a push stick, this saw comes with one and it is very conveniently placed/holstered on the back side of the fence. You can start cutting without it and then easily access it to finish the very end of the work piece.The riving knife makes this saw an instant upgrade over older saws that don't have one. You have to be a little more conscientious about buying blades with the right kerf, but it doesn't severely limit your options. Since the knife facilitates cutting everything I don't see a real need for a thin kerf blade anyways. I rip up a lot of hardwood (mahogany, cherry, oak, maple) along with plenty of PVC/Azek trim and it helps to prevent binding that occurs after the wood is split. Although I have a nice and sharp new blade installed, the saw hasn't once bogged down while cutting or produced burn marks on the stock. The riving knife is a pretty common safety feature of most new saws and it is an absolute necessity. I typically loose the blade guard and anti kickback cawls on a saw with such a modest motor (the saw will bog down before it throws the work at you), as it usually just gets in the way and impedes productivity. The riving knife however is a welcome safety feature and is easily removed and adjusted for doing plunge cuts. The throat plate is well built and has a simple locking mechanism and four adjustable height/depth screws. It is easily removed for easy and direct access to the enclosed blade arbor, and riving knife thumb screw. The saw comes with both wrenches for switching the blade and they store conveniently and securely on the side of the saw.The overall construction and design of the saw are excellent. It is a good balance of heavy duty but also lightweight components and it has an overall small storage/transport footprint. Everything sits on a sturdy roll cage chassis, and the stand is folded together for easy storage. It has two cutout "handles" on each size for transport, and has good overall balance when lifted from the stand. The Bosch 1031 unfortunately has some quirky design flaws that can slow down productivity, but this saw has an excellent and intuitive layout. The lever that locks the fence in position is on the right hand side of the saw beneath the table so it takes some time to learn it's exact position. The wheel that raises and lowers the blade turns very easily and feels very sturdy. Adjusting the angle/bevel of the blade is also very smooth, has zero resistance. I haven't checked the angles for accuracy out of the box yet, but I don't usually trust them anyways. This saw and it's moving parts will undoubtedly last a long time and put up with daily abuse on a job site. One head scratcher was there seems to be nowhere to put the low quality supplied miter gauge. These things are basically disposable on most portable saws anyways, but there seems to be nowhere to store it (or an aftermarket replacement.One feature that could be beneficial to some, but be an annoyance to others is the 2 1/2 inch dust port on the back of the saw. This can easily accept a shop vac hose, but not everyone uses dust collection on a portable saw all the time. When not hooked to a vac or dust collection hose the rear facing port spits dust quite a distance towards the back of the saw and at anyone receiving a work piece. Typically most saws drop dust directly beneath the saw in a small centralized pile, but not this saw. It throws a trail of dust anywhere from a foot to 4-5 ft behind the saw depending on what you are cutting, making cleanup just a bit more of a hassle. It is not a huge issue and can be remedied with an elbow fitting or small (cutoff) piece of vacuum hose and a 5 gal bucket. The saw pushes the dust out with a good amount of force so you almost don't need suction if the hose is short enough and a bucket is placed close to the saw. Another annoyance is the hole orientation and supplied screws for mounting the saw to the stand. They are 4 black carriage type bolts with nuts and washers and need to installed and removed every time the saw is setup and broken down because all the holes are angled. The saw and stand mate together in a way that the saw requires some type of fastener/pin or it could slide forward off the stand due to vibration. They don't need to be tightened, just threaded through the saw and stand. I plan to replace them with at least 2 long hitch pins and clips to make it a bit faster/easier to setup and breakdown.Despite a few minor (but fixable) annoyances the saw was absolutely worth the upgrade and gets 5 stars in my book. It produces superior/more accurate results than my older saw and increases productivity with its accurate and easily adjustable fence system. It is easy to transport and store due to it's design and small footprint and it's setup and breakdown can be facilitated buy swapping the stand bolts for hitch pins. I would recommend this model to any professional. The DW745 is almost identical but uses a smaller/slower motor so it would be geared more towards the occasional user/home owner. No portable table saw can replace a shop table saw by any means, but this is an excellent compliment for on site work.

I am no Tim the tool man Taylor, in fact before this saw the only building I ever did was assemble TV stands, bed frames and a desk here and there; always pre-measured and made. It wasn't until I put together an outdoor plastic shed and built a platform for it using a circular saw that I realized how much I enjoyed wood working. I'm familiar with using a drill, taking things apart, putting them back together and am comfortable with power tools. I had just never used anything quite this powerful.What followed was, a lot of spending, buying a few clamps, a pocket hole system, etc. With those few items I was able to build a couple smaller house hold items, but I wanted more! So I did a lot of research, read reviews and watched YouTube (not just cat videos) and in an ideal world because space was limited, I would have wanted the Dewalt saw with the dolly like cart, but didn't want to spend that much. I "settled" for this Dewalt 7480XA with stand for $399.99.Why I didn't go with a cheaper brand is because I'm not that type of person, I prefer a middle of the road price and also a more well known name. In the event I found out I in fact hated wood working and all the math that comes along with it, or sawed a finger off, it would have a higher resale value (the saw, not my fingers.)Shipping was a fiasco; Amazon mailed it, but FedEx never scanned it in so for about 2 weeks there was never any shipping updates. I was a tad irritated and frustrated, but as always Amazon came through for me. After contacting them they waited 24 hours, called me back to see if I had received it and when I hadn't, a second one was shipped out to me which arrived 2 days later. Side note: The saw they originally shipped to me just arrived a few days ago, thankfully I was home. I chased down the FedEx guy and made him take it back; it was 5 weeks after I placed my order and the box looked like it had been through the wringer.I LOVE this saw. I didn't have to do any type of tweaking to it when it arrived, the blade was secure, the fence went on smoothly, as did all the guards. The instructions were basic, but with my novice skills/knowledge they still were helpful and what I couldn't find in them, I found on YouTube.The stand holds up nicely, it's instructions were not as clear though. There are 2 sizes of screws in the box, one for the stand and one to secure the saw to the stand, you have a 50/50 chance of putting the correct ones where they go. If I remember correctly the shorter ones are for the stand, while the longer ones are to hold the saw to the stand. I use it outdoors on fairly uneven grass/dirt and haven't had any issues.It's not very loud; again though I use it outdoors. It seems to be louder for the first 2 seconds you power it on and then it evens out to a fairly quite hum. It's light, so I can move it from the shed to outside without removing it from the stand.The only 2 downsides to the this saw and stand is the screws that hold the saw to the stand start to wiggle loose; I've used the saw for a total of maybe 2 hours running time and just reach down and tighten them up before use. The other is the "cross-cut jig" they give you (technical name for it?) it's very cheap and I'd agree with some other reviews to throw out the plastic bits and save the metal runner. I constructed a cross-cut sled for it and it works like a charm.

This seems like a pretty good saw for the money so far. I'm pretty bummed that I didn't realize this saw doesn't support a dado blade. I would have gotten something else if I had noticed this before purchase. Other than that, I'm happy. One of the screws that holds the side on was striped at the factory and just fell out when I unboxed the saw. I can't put the screw back in because the plastic has been ripped out by the screw threads. Luckily, this isn't a structural joint and there are other screws holding the side on. No problems because of this so far. I'm still using the blade that came with the saw and it works fine for me. I did replace the cheap plastic miter. My sawhorses are just the right size to create a temporary outfeed table for the saw, so I'm very happy with the height. The dust collector is larger than any attachment that I have for my wet/dry vac, so I got an adapter on Amazon and that works well. This isn't necessary, of course, but it beats vacuuming up all the dust that the saw throws out of the dust collection port if you don't have something attached to it.