I am a finish carpenter and a experienced woodworker that bought this saw for the purpose of ripping stock on the job site. It works well for all the job site ripping that comes with installing trim, vanities/cabnets, and stairways whitch the saw was designeded for. But in the workshop you really want to stick with a good cabnet saw. the only downside to this saw that I see so far is the fact that the base is a thin injected molded peace of plastic which with all the carting around I could see getting broken, so try to form fit a peace of ply or MDF to the underside of the saw for less likelyhood of future damage. Fence deflection is minimal and the tension can be adjusted right at the front of the fence. The design of the teliscoping fence is cool and allows for 24" of capacity and is quite sturdy. With the saw set up on its stand and a good out feed table like what Ridged makes it is easy to cut sheets of plywood or MDF alike. I would still recomend using a circular saw to rip the ply in half width wise if you have the option though. Like I said this isnt a cabnet saw that has a low center of gravity and weighs 700#.

First I've used the Bosch a little (nice saw but the red folding base is suspect) and I trim several houses per year (part time builder). This is a replacement for an old Craftsman cast iron saw (1970's). The saw does a reasonable job but it does have a few shortcomings and a few pluses.
br / Out of the box it seems fairly easy to set up and I did not have to perform many adjustments....the table top has a slight deflection from the original casting and there is about a 1/32 difference between the extention and the table (it's not a machined top). The painted top needs to be waxed.
br / The blade is easy to install (blade lock is nice) but the blade plate (throat plate) has to be adjusted via 4 screws to make it level with the table and it snaps into place (I prefer the kind that screws down).
br / The base seems well made and is sturdy. The saw attaches via 4 wing nuts and together they form a stable platform from which to work.
br / The saw does not have a soft start and starts with a loud bang and a jump but the blade seems to run true and seems to have all the power needed or wanted and it stops in a reasonable time when shut off.
br / The fence seems quite accurate and the miter gage fits in slot but is not very large. The fence markings appear to be about 1/16th off as per spec.
br / Now the rest ...PLASTIC some gearing, blade housing, saw base, adjustment knob, lever and it has a tape measure mounted on the extention for measuring cuts greater than 13 inches.
br / My feelings: the saw appears to be a one man saw and may not stand up to much abuse but the price was right at $349. If you are like me, easy on your tools you will probably get reasonable service but this saw does not appear to be a tool you can reef on or abuse.
br / Other saws to consider in the same price range: The Craftsman (Ryobi 3100 with a portable base) which seems to have better castings and does more "tricks" (cross cuts to 16", includes a router table and cross cuts 3" and 9/16ths depth) but takes up more space both stored and in use at $359 on sale with the Craftsman club.
br / Either should work fine for a portable "trimmers" saw.
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The single biggest flaw with this saw is the throat plate. Unfortunately this has enormous impact on all areas of cutting. The biggest lesson I learned from buying this saw is to always wait until it has been reviewed by other people.
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br /Now I need to replace it due to the inability to make an accurate cut

I was very dissapointed with this saw. The blade was not pararllel to the fence and had to be adjusted. Two of the adjustment bolts for blade alignment were frozen, one moved easily and the other took every bit of effort I had - I couldn't align the blade. The stand is minimal. I sent it back and bought the Bosch. Spend the money for Bosch, you won't be unhappy.