Porter-Cable - PC13CSL 13Amp Circular Saw with Laser (Rating: 3)

That's probably all the saw you'd need - My wife

Famous last words for a saw that I quickly became annoyed with. I purchased the saw about 3 years ago during a Lowes fathers day sale. For the price, was quite the bargain. I've used the saw for for a much of home repair/renovation jobs, as well as many woodworking projects to break down sheet goods and solid lumber. At 13amps, it's rated to have less power than many 15amp saws, but I doubt many would experience a noticeable difference. Overall I have no complaints, and for the price it performed like a champ, plowing through any material (with the right blade) I've cut. Tweaking the settings for the saw to ensure that the blade is square to the stamped steel shoe was easy enough. I didn't play with the bevel setting much, but it's fairly consistent with other saws in that price bracket.

The reason I docked 2 stars, is that any attempt to change the saw blade is a pain. The saw does NOT have an arbor lock, and I don't enjoy having to man-handle the blade while undoing the bolt that locks the blade to the saw arbor. While I don't change blades often (I kept a Freud Diablo 60T in), I eventually got lazy and started using my impact driver with a hex nut. So when the opportunity to upgrade to a 15amp with a magnetic shoe (the Porter Cable PC15TCSMK), I cashed out, and sold the saw.

Overall, for a no frills saw, this saw can fit the bill. But 2 good things came out of this episode
  1. It was a good starter saw that taught me what I should be looking for before I sold it
  2. My wife knows better than to repeat that line with me again