Re: Griots Random vs 7424xp
Brand names are just that, brand names. Lets not forget that B&D purchased the rights to use the Dewalt name on their portable power tools previously marketed as the B&D Professional tool lineup, which promptly boosted sales. B&D Pro tools were always good, it was just that the B&D name, through all the consumer grade stuff had such a bad reputation that it smeared across the Pro line as well.
As for PC vs Griots vs Flex vs Meguiars vs Hitachi vs Makita vs Dewalt etc. etc. etc, all *I* will say is that if I'm buying a power tool, I'll buy it from a maker who makes their living from making power tools and who has a good reputation. In the same vein, I also like to buy auto detailing chemicals from companies that pretty much only make Auto detailing chemicals. This does NOT mean that a company who's business is NOT making power tools cannot have a tool made by another company and branded for them. Doing so also does not mean that the product they have made for them is inferior in any way, but neither does it mean that it isn't!
The main issue I see with a Meguiars or Griots polishers (no matter how good they really might be) is the lack of local service/support/parts. Sooner or later these products will need servicing..... it's the nature of tools... brushes *will* wear out, tools get dropped and banged around... cords eventually need replacing. All these issues are promptly addressed at the *local* Dewalt, PC, B&D, Hitachi, Makita, Bosch etc. etc. service center. No need for mailing your tool away for repair or replacement, just drop it off at the service desk and the repair shop takes care of it... if it can't be fixed, they'll replace it.
As for lifetime warranties, they are only good for as long as the company is in business and is still producing the product in question. On another forum, we just had some fun with this sort of thing... the product came with a "Forever" warranty, not for the "Life of the Product" nor was it for "The life of the original owner" but (and they spelled this out quite clearly) it is warrantied forever... should the product ever fail, please return for repair or replacement." Pretty clear, this outfit really stands behind it's product, right?..... Except that on contacting the company, the reply was "We no longer produce this line of products and have no parts for them. We are sorry you are experiencing problems with our old product and will be happy to replace it with a single package of our new disposable products." [In case you were wondering, the product was a mans safety razor of a type where blades have long been difficult to find].
As for the differences in power/rpm's of different tools.... there's a lot of shenanigans going on...... Anyone buy a 5.5hp Shop Vac? Sorry... but in the real world, by the time an electric motor is capable of producing more than 1.5hp of actual work... you're pretty much looking at having to use 220 v to feed it. By the time you hit 5HP of real, usable power output, the motor itself weighs more than I can lift comfortably...... and yet my shop vac claims 5.5 hp. ( It does draw sufficient amperage to produce somewhere around that amount of HP but that is at full stall of the motor and only lasts for a second or two before the windings burn out). Then there is the issue of efficiency.... a well designed power tool may very well use less amps than a poorly designed tool..... It's the same idea as trying to measure the power output of a car engine based entirely on fuel consumption.... you have to add the efficiency coefficient before you have the real story.
The bottom line for me when I had to choose between the Megs G110 and the PC 7424 was simply the fact that I could drop the tool off on my way to my *real* job if something went wrong to have it repaired under warranty. The Megs unit would have required mailing it (at my expense) to their facility where it would be *replaced* with another one (there hasn't been any information on how to get one that is past it's warranty period repaired, something that WILL be an issue some day). Both tools work well, I just like the tried and tested local service depot.... it works for thousands of pro's in my city, and it was good enough for me.
Regards
Christian
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