This saw gets put through it daily at the job. If you ever cut in roof's with beaded 3/8 plywood and then have to cut 5/8, then cut three sheets with 2' rips--you really come to love the ease of the adjusting knob; especially if you are the one cutting and you have two men calling for cuts while two men tack it down. The break has never failed, especially while leaning over cutting a left angle on 4' ply. The cord is nice and long 9', which keeps cord connection from hindering cut. Nice plate, alum. (just watch on wood to be stained-some small black marks) 50% miter, better than 45% when you need it, you need it. Depth adjuster in a great place--no more holding the blade next to the wood--lost time in the past. Good balance. One minor problem: you might have to replace bolt on knob every 700 to 800 adjustments. Double insulated-a must on the job. This saw may not be for the once in a while user, but it is for the heavy everyday man. Worth the price

This saw is the best I've ever used. For such a heavy duty product, it is reliatively light weight. Nevertheless, it has a very solid feel to it and is well balanced for keeping straight on those long rip cuts. A great investment.

As a general contractor I can say one thing with confidence,you cannot buy a better tool than those made by Dewalt. I have triedalmost every brand made and every saw or drill that I ever bought other than Dawalt has simply not lasted more than a year and quiet a few of those tools we in the hundreds of dollars range. I switched to dewalt 5 years ago with the purchase of a drill within the first month the tool inpressed me so much that I purchased all new tools. But whats even more impressive is the fact that I use and abuse this tools everyday along with others I employee, and I have yet to burn one up! In the 5 years that I have used Dawalt I have spent more money replacing cords that have been abused than the purchase price of the equipment. My equipment gets Caught in rain and salt water splase on decks of boats and it has never failed. Their will never be a tool bougth by me again with out finding out if Dewalt makes one first. P.S. The only reason I'm looking for a new cirular saw is because my 5 year old one was stolen! In my experience Dewalt makes the finest tools on the market.

In 1998 I was buying a few of the last high-end items needed to start my own roofing company when I bought this saw. After dealing on several other tools, I asked the salesman (a retired general contractor) what was the best circular saw in the store. Without pause, he grabbed this DeWalt. I have other saws available, but this is practically the only saw that I've used since June of '98. I'm a teacher so I only do carpentry in the summers, but still this saw has been subject to a lot of use and more than a little abuse. It still works perfectly. It's an incredibly powerful and durable saw. If you use good quality blades, I don't believe that the wood exists that it can't cut through with ease.pIf there were three things that I'd do to improve it, it would be these:br1. make it lighterbr2. left-side cutting blade instead of right-sidebr3. laser-light guide for cuttingpI know that the first two are already available on newer models, but I've yet to use them. If everything else is the same, those saws should be darn close to perfect. My next circular saw will be a DeWalt, but it might be several years until I need one.

Owned this saw for over 10 years. Has really good power, even when the cut is off and the blade gets twisted a bit. Depth gauge and trapeze blade drop are great features--the later moves the blade up/down while maintaining the saw grip at the same angle. Most others rotate the grip up as the depth decreases. Forward grip handle twist locks the depth, easy to use and secures tightly. Good line-of-sight for the cut-line, never a problem! Great buy for the $'s.

While it being an impressive claim considering the quality of DeWalt portable tools, the DW364 is still a far cry from the Super Sawcat of the late to early 90's. pThe DW364 was the first Dewalt (of the yellow variety) circular saw that featured an electric brake. It's strong shoe/base coupled with a strong knob/depth adjuster makes this as solid a saw out in the market. Blade changing is practical with the blade lock feature. Easy motor brush access, makes this saw very easy to self-service. pGood saw that has only proven itself

This saw will cut. We have 5 of them. We cut 3/8" aluminum plate with no problem and have yet to burn one out or break a gear box in 2 years.
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br / The draw backs are we have to keep a stock of the arms for the blade guard. They are plastic a keep breaking. If the saw is dropped the cast aluminum arms that hold the base on can break. To fix it the whole gear box housing has to be replaced.
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Well I had this saw for 10 years now and I love it. The flat alum base doesnt scratch the work and the adjustment works well. I've used this saw on a plywood base like a tablesaw and it preformed well. The electric brake continues to work, it's a nice safety feature. It is a professional quality saw and I would buy this saw again.

I have used on my job site for 25 years every kind of hand held saw made. (Except for worm drive saws - this is the Mid-West after all!) My bread and butter saw is an old Metal Rockwell 315 - and has been for 20 of those 25 years. However one of my guys brought in the Dewalt saw a month ago and it was love at first sight! (I hope you who read this appreciate just how close I am to my 315!) The Dewalt has the balance of a swiss watch mechanism, the power of a freight train, the ease of lowering and raising the bed as if it were made of teflon, the absolutely best depth indicator on the market, a bed that is wide, flat and very durable, the ergonomics of the handle setups are superb, it's weight (although a tab more then most) gives its user a sense of stability and purpose, and it's striking yellow color makes it easy to find amidst the clutter of the job site. I don't yet own one because of my loyalty to my old Faithful, but I have to admit that every chance I get to use this superb saw I do - its so well designed that its actually a pleasure to use!

I believe this dewalt circular saw is a fine product. I had to file the piece of the metal frame that contacts the metal base so that I could adjust
br /the blade square with the base. the problem that I still have is that the left side of the base is straight but the right side is distorted (caused when they stamped the hole in the base for the blade). this will not work if I want the saw to follow a guide for cutting sheet goods. The saw has all the nessary adjustment points. I really shouldn't have to modify
br /the saw to get what I need. dewalt makes a good product and with the way things are I doubt that I would do better if I bought from some other company.

If you've ever used a BD Super Sawcat-either 7 1/4" or 8 1/4"-you'll understand my point of view. The Sawcat is the saw to which I judge all others. The first and most obvious comparison is the DeWalt's electric brake-the blade still turns after the saw is shut down. When you shut down a Sawcat the blade stops, and I mean now. The next item is the shoe plate. The DeWalt is wide enough, but if you look at a Sawcat's shoe plate you notice BD turned up the edges just a skosh so when you run it down a straight edge it won't hang up in that invariable gap between the straight edge and the item you're cutting. No turned up edge on the DeWalt. In addition on the DeWalt's shoe plate where there are the marks indicating the blade path at 45 and and 0 degrees there is a bit of residual casting that makes the 0 degree line indistinct. I suppose a slight high speed modification with a file will cure the problem, but a Sawcat wouldn't require any file work. These, of course, are details, but, hey, that's what carpentry is all about. On the plus side are all the items mentioned by other reviewers-good long cord, easy depth adjustment (although the indicator on the depth gauge sits far enough away from the gauge to make exact reading questionable), external brushes, good balance, and power. Whether or not the DeWalt can stand up to years of gaff like a Sawcat, I can't say. In sum, the DeWalt is a decent saw for the price, but guys like me will keep looking for that stash of new old stock Sawcats.

I compared this saw to a Milwaukee 6390. Advantages of this model are the rear pivot (you don't need to adjust the handle to keep it close to the shoe, it's always where you want it) and the blade brake. The brake stops the blade in 2 to3 seconds, the Milwaukee has no brake and takes 3 times that long. If I had bought this saw first and never tried the Milwaukee, I never would have looked back. This saw is a bit heavy, but it balances well, feels solid, and cuts very very well.
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br /In the end this saw gets second place for two reasons. First, although there is a nice big notch in the upper blade guard to let you see your cut line, the front-mounted height adjustment is in the way so you have to lean forward to get a peek. Second, the Milwaukee just turns wood to vapor. The Dewalt is a very strong saw and never bogged down a bit. But the 6390 feels like magic when it cuts. It's not just the blade, I swapped them and while the Endurance blade is far superior to the DeWalt, either way the Milwaukee just makes you want to cut your picnic table in pieces for the sheer joy of it.

I purchased this saw because I was building a 600 sq ft deck and really needed something that would work well. What a great investment this was. I can't begin to tell you how many pieces of wood we had to cut and the saw did it with ease. I am extremely happy with the results and very happy that I followed the reviews of others before I purchased the saw. Even after completing the deck, I still don't even have to change the blade. I also purchased the reciprocating saw from DeWalt which also worked great. You get what you pay for and it's worth every penny, especially when you don't have tax or delivery.

I have logged hundreds of hours with this saw in my hand and it never failed me. It cuts as strong now as it did when I first bought it - a good ten years ago. I previously had a couple of Craftsmans and an old Skil but I just gave them away after getting this. I've used saws costing twice as much and I still prefer this old yellow friend. She is easy to hold, feels great in your hand and sold while cutting.
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br /Of the thousands and thousands of dollars I've spent on tools, this was the best $150 I ever spent. I usually spring for more money than I need, but I'm sure glad I didn't in this case.
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br /My youngest son just bought a house and is in need of some tools (not mine). He's getting one as a gift.
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I'm not a pro, so was a little leery about the price on this saw. Like others have said, though, it was love at first sight (or first feel) when I picked it up for the first time. It just feels good in the hand, fairly heavy, but with a nice balance. And when I first tried the depth adjustment mechanism, that about sealed the deal for me - set the depth you want without hardly moving your hands!
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br / I also highly recommend the electric brake. In fact that was the main reason I was looking for a saw - my old skilsaw would spin for almost ever after cutting - which made me nervous. Now I'm used to the brake and wouldn't have a saw without it. In fact, once in a while the brake will fail to engage (I think if I let go of the trigger too slow or something) and it kind of bugs me; I'll usually flip it on again to get it to work.
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br / Incidently, the brake isn't designed to be like a brake in a chainsaw (instantaneous stop) since it still takes a couple of seconds before the blade stop. It does add to safety, however, compared to a free-spinning model.
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br / The saw seems to have good power - I think nothing of ripping full lenth 2-inch stock and it doesn't seem to phase it, just keeps piling up the dust.

Bought this saw because of its easy adjustment features and solid plate. Have not been disappointed and now everyone on the job wants to use it. Can't go wrong with this saw.

I AM A PROFESSIONal contractor and this is a great saw with some nice features, 2nd one purchased, both are still in use.

This is my second Dewalt saw, I sold the first when I moved. I like it because it is heavy and cuts straight. I tried the Makita, which is lighter, and also a good saw, but prefer the Dewalt. The new depth adjustment is as good as they say and right at your fingertips.

Just finished my first deck project with the Dewalt DW364. This baby cuts like butter. Rip, cross, bevel. It's a massive tool that makes every cut like a hot knife.

I have had this saw for a couple of years and used it only a few dozen times on plywood and press board. While cutting a countertop (easy cut) the armature started throwing sparks. I was quite disappointed after spending this much for a heavy duty saw and only getting a few uses out of it. The new armature is over $60. I have saw other reviews on their saws with the same story, sounds like a manufacturing problem that should be addressed.