I was surprised at how easy this cordless cuts through materials. There is no cord to get tangled and hooked on corners, and the power-brake makes it much safer than other circular saws I have used. It's lightweight and very comfortable, which is typical of the newer Makita tools. This saw has a nice LED light that illuminates the cutting path. I would much rather use this over my table saw, especially on larger sheets of plywood. The included blade cuts smoothly and accurately. Take note that the smaller 1.5AH batteries will not fit on this saw, it requires the 3.0AH.
I am completely satisfied and would highly recommend the purchase of this saw.

Four decks in the past year, from 300 to 800 sq feet and this is the only saw I have had to use. My Makita Hypoid saw is out of order, but this little saw does every thing but rip long boards. Being light, cordless, and powerful enough is saving me time. I did jam the blade once, took out the very hot battery and, per the instruction manual, put it strait into the charger. This ruined the battery. The warranty dept. got me a new battery a few days latter. Much better saw than the old DeWalt 18v (my old cordless.) Best part is that the LXT is more accurate than a framing saw. So I trust cutting expensive synthetic decking with it.

This saw works very nicely, precision made and well designed. But note this - Makita makes two versions of the 18V lithium batteries, 3 AH and a smaller 1.5 AH version which goes well with light drills and impact wrenches. My previous Makita tools all came with the smaller battery - but turns out the 1.5 will NOT fit this saw, which accepts only the 3 AH version. I didn't know that and neither the Makita website nor manual say anything about it, which is annoying. So I had to buy a new battery for this, which added $65 to the price.

I am very pleased with quality feel, and compact size of this saw. I no longer reach for my hand saw to cut 1 or 2 boards, as before, to avoid pulling out the extension cord.

this cordless saw outperforms my rigid and hitachi cordless saws. lots of power and very well balanced. this is one of my favorite tools...i abuse it and i cut thru some big nasty material.

what a great saw for the money....many nice features, and the light is wonderful. nice thin kerf.