Reply by live4ever

Well, “best” would probably be the Festool Kapex. It certainly is the highest priced SCMS at nearly double its closest competitors.

But “best” for one person isn’t necessarily “best” for another, and you might assign value differently to different features than I would.

That being said, the Kapex is a nifty saw. My favorite features:
- the lasers are dead nuts accurate
- fairly quiet and smooth
- the hold-down is really nice and clamps securely
- trenching feature for quick dados
- light and portable
- good dust collection for a miter saw
- doesn’t need much space at all behind the saw (saw head slides forward on fixed rails)

Personally I’m still trying to decide if it’s worth what I paid for it and if I use it enough to justify it. But it’s a heck of a saw.To me the most important features were actually the small footprint (cramped shop) and the smoothness/quietness.

-- Optimists are usually disappointed. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. I tend to be a disappointed pessimist.