The saw is light weight and very functional but I would not purchase another one. The reason is the table mounting holes are not aligned. This makes if difficult to mount this saw to a table stand other then the Hitachi table. When you are reviewing miter saws make sure they will mount to other manufactures tables. You should not have to make modifications to your table or buy another table just to mount the saw to the table.

While I am not new to power tools (I am an avid DIY'r, and HVAC tech). This was my first purchase of a powered compound miter saw. I had no problems with the manual that came with it, besides who really reads those? The unit for the most part is self explanitory. I had it mounted to my bench downstairs in about 20 mins, plus 15 mins to go to the hardware store for some lag bolts. Operation and adjustments were easy. Cuts like a dream. The only thing i can say bad about it, isnt really bad. I would have liked to be able to cut 8" baseboard with it but it doesnt have the capacity. I should have done more research prior. But for all my other uses, crown moulding, quarter-round, trimming out a window, I had fun and they look great. I would recomend this saw for those who arent looking to spend an arm and a leg. Plus as an added bonus, it's super light for mobility.

You cannot beat this saw for the money. It is precise, lightweight, and has a lot of power. I have not had a problem with it in two months of hard use.

This is a low end miter saw that works just fine. I like this saw because it is light weight and can be hauled around for smaller jobs. I give this saw 5 stars because in the same price range you are looking at either Ryobi or Firestorm(black and decker).....I would say Hitachi has the better reputation and my experience with the Hitachi brand has been good.
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br /As far as the instruction booklet? I only opened it to see that I received all included parts. I only had to install a few items which took 5 minutes. Perhaps the one I got from Lowes was pre-assembled? The 1 star rating seems unfair for that considering the limited tools required and parts included.
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br /I can't comment on the table mounts (as others have) since I probably will only use it as a small portable.

Shopped around quite a bit and found the best price here. The laser takes a bit of getting used to and is ineffective in daylight. Love the saw. Well built.

everything about it works like it said it would...love the laser...just got to remember to turn it off after using the saw...guess it might eventually burn out if left on too long or it might have an auto turn off but don't recall reading in the directions...

I bought this about a week ago. It arrived quickly. That was the last good thing that happened in association with this product, and in retrospect, I guess that wasn't so good after all.
br /1) The blade hits the table rather than going into the kerf on the table.
br /2) The bolt to ajust the bevel angle to 45 degrees is inoperable.
br /3) The instruction manual is so poor as to be a throw away. You will just drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. While not 100%, common sense will take you MUCH further than this manual.
br /Examples:
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br /'Use the 10mm wrench on the 6 mm bolt'. Oh, really??!
br /'Insert a 4mm hex bar wrench in the 12 hole'. Does anyone know what a '12 hole' is? I don't. Illustration here is worthless, BTW.
br /'Ink lining can be easily made on this tool to the laser marker'. I'm sure it can, but why would you want to do that and what are you talking about??? If you're trying to say 'make a pencil mark on the piece and align the laser with that mark to cut the piece there', boy, did you miss the mark! There is another whole paragraph about 'ink lining'!
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br /This is but a smattering of poor directions that would be very funny if you knew what they were talking about. I don't.
br /The illustrations ae possibly the worst I have ever seen in an instruction manual, and that's going some! They are either totally unclear or they show you where a bolt should go by showing you the bolt and 2 inches around it, so you have no point of reference.
br /Needless to say, I am returning it, no problem from Amazon, but who needs the aggravation? I just spent 45 minutes trying to put it back in the box, to no avail. I know it can be done, but I'll be darned if I can figure it out! All I have to show for this is a sore back and a trip to ups to return this if and when I can figure out how to get it back into the box! Because of the original mechanical problems, plus the manual, I feel justified in giving this one star.
br /UPDATE: I got the replacement from Amazon and it also didn't line up with the kerf in the table, I ended up filing the plastic piece that surrounds the kerf so that it would work without hitting anything.