I was lucky enough to get a pm2000 for christmas, and it's been an interesting upgrade, to say the least.
The good:
This saw is powerful, cutting through 3" red oak without any trouble. I've ripped, cross-cut and taper cut that stock for a table project I've been doing. The built in casters are a nice feature, nicer than a mobile base, as they retract entirely leaving the saw very stable. The riving knife design is truly inspired. The entire mechanism can be removed to allow for a cross cut sled in less than a minute, it's my favorite part of this saw. The work surface is huge, 30.5" deep. The throat plate is large, it's easy to change blades, ample finger room. The arbor lock is nice, but not necessary. I'm not sure that it makes changing the blade any easier, to be honest. The large switch is easy to bump off with my thigh.
The OK:
The included miter gauge is pretty good I suppose, but I'll keep my Incra. The height and tilt adjustment locks are ok, but basically screws, they work but I found them odd. Dust collection is pretty good, but dust comes through the guard, soon it'll be time for a shark for this monster. The guard is a standard Jet guard, with 2 sides that move independantly. This is very good in some ways, but bad in 1 important factor, the front and sides of the guard are 3 seperate pieces, and thus allow for dust to escape.
The "Bad":
None of this is really all that bad, but....the manual isn't great. There is absolutely no doc on the caster system. To get it working I downloaded a video from the web site and watched it. The casters work, but don't lift the saw very much, I have a wooden floor in the shop, and the saw weighs enough to deflect it such that the apron of the saw brushes sometimes. For the money, I was surprised to find that no blade came with the saw. All that was included was a push stick (which is pretty nice). The motor mounting system makes it impossible to put anything under the left wing of the saw. I don't have a huge shop, and previously that is where my jointer lived.
Conclusion:
I'm a pretty happy guy with this saw. It was aligned nicely "out of the box" only the rip fence needed a bit of adjustment. It was a large pain in the butt to move into the shop, weighs 700lbs. Overall I am quite satisfied with my purchase. At 2200$ retail (normally), it's a bit more than a unisaw, but for me the saftey features were worth the extra $$$.
The good:
This saw is powerful, cutting through 3" red oak without any trouble. I've ripped, cross-cut and taper cut that stock for a table project I've been doing. The built in casters are a nice feature, nicer than a mobile base, as they retract entirely leaving the saw very stable. The riving knife design is truly inspired. The entire mechanism can be removed to allow for a cross cut sled in less than a minute, it's my favorite part of this saw. The work surface is huge, 30.5" deep. The throat plate is large, it's easy to change blades, ample finger room. The arbor lock is nice, but not necessary. I'm not sure that it makes changing the blade any easier, to be honest. The large switch is easy to bump off with my thigh.
The OK:
The included miter gauge is pretty good I suppose, but I'll keep my Incra. The height and tilt adjustment locks are ok, but basically screws, they work but I found them odd. Dust collection is pretty good, but dust comes through the guard, soon it'll be time for a shark for this monster. The guard is a standard Jet guard, with 2 sides that move independantly. This is very good in some ways, but bad in 1 important factor, the front and sides of the guard are 3 seperate pieces, and thus allow for dust to escape.
The "Bad":
None of this is really all that bad, but....the manual isn't great. There is absolutely no doc on the caster system. To get it working I downloaded a video from the web site and watched it. The casters work, but don't lift the saw very much, I have a wooden floor in the shop, and the saw weighs enough to deflect it such that the apron of the saw brushes sometimes. For the money, I was surprised to find that no blade came with the saw. All that was included was a push stick (which is pretty nice). The motor mounting system makes it impossible to put anything under the left wing of the saw. I don't have a huge shop, and previously that is where my jointer lived.
Conclusion:
I'm a pretty happy guy with this saw. It was aligned nicely "out of the box" only the rip fence needed a bit of adjustment. It was a large pain in the butt to move into the shop, weighs 700lbs. Overall I am quite satisfied with my purchase. At 2200$ retail (normally), it's a bit more than a unisaw, but for me the saftey features were worth the extra $$$.