Customer Reviews
I'm in love! 
2008-05-04
This review won't be technical or helpful, but as a female who really enjoys home improvement projects, I think this is one wicked awesome saw. I've been replacing baseboards and crown moulding and it's perfect. A 10" miter saw wasn't cutting it (no pun intended) on the larger crown, so I bought this one. It's easy to use right out of the box. I might one day sit down and read thru the instruction manual, but I could do everything I needed to without the book. I am inspired to learn how to do more things. All the men in my family and the guys who have been working on other things around my house are very impressed (with the saw and what I've done with it).
12" wins 2008-03-10
My husband is very hard to buy for and this was the perfect Valentine's surprise gift. He had a 10" miter saw with only a single bevel and kept saying it was fine, he didn't need a new one. So I surprised him with this before a large molding project and he loves it. Easy to use, precise cuts, a big improvement from his 10".
great saw 2007-12-30
I am a trin carpenter by trade I purchased this saw to complement a twelve inch slider I also own this saw is my daily go to I absolutely love it I have found it to be accurate out of the box miters are dead on no gap at all it will also cut most base standing upright wich make my life easier .The miter and bevel adjustments are the best I have used and I also own a ten inch hitachi slider twelve inch bosch and the older single bevel dewalt .You cannot go wrong with this saw
A great saw with 1 minor problem 2007-10-14
11/25/07.
I have been using this saw for a few months now. I have since replaced the throat plate with a home made hardwood plate. No more bowing.
The blade upgrade is a must for precision woodworking. If you are buying the saw for carpentry, the stock blade works well. I have used it for cutting 2x4's this summer and it performed quite well. Remember, miter saws are built for carpenters not woodworkers.
The cuts have been effortless and perfect. I needed to make some blade adjustments out of the box as expected. The blade was rather easy to square up. Then I used it for a while. I always start with a longer piece of wood than I really need and make a test cut. I then check it with a quality square. All of a sudden I found my blade was not cutting straight. I squared the blade again and it's been fine since. I will attribute this to break in of the saw. But no saw blade on any machine will maintain it's squareness indefinitely. Maintenance is all part of the fun.
The factory dust bag collects about 50% of the dust. That's about standard for any power tool. I purchased a reducer for my dust collector hose, a 2 hp Grizzly. Now the factory dust port is pulling away 95% of the dust. The JDS ceiling mounted dust collector gets the really fine stuff. Now there is just a small amount that gathers on the floor. The shop vac takes care of that.
I am extremely happy with this saw and would purchase again. Anyone want to buy my old craftsman?
Out of the box this saw was nearly perfect. But as stated by others, the throat plate stinks. It's a cheap piece of plastic. It bows in the center and will throw off your cut. I removed it and the bow remained. I tossed it. I'll buy the zero clearance metal plate or maybe make a couple from hardwood.
The blade cuts well but leaves a rough edge. It would be a good blade for cutting dimentional lumber but not for furniture grade hardwoods.
So it's off to Lowe's for a 12 inch 96 tooth Irwin. $69. It now cuts through oak like butter.
My first cut was off by a degree or two. I pulled out the manual and set the blade 90 degrees to the fence and set the bevels. Next cut was perfect! My older craftsman never ran so smooth or strong. And no matter how many times I tried, I just could not get the blade 90 degfrees to the fence. Every time I had it dead on, it would move when tightening up the screws. I really dislike craftsmen power tools. The new thing with craftsmen is adding on cheap accessories that either don't work or have no meaningfull purpose. Maybe they should concentrate on putting back the quality.
The belt drive for the blade removes so much vibration, the saw is a real pleasure to use. I mounted the dewalt on my Grizzly saw stand and it is the perfect working height.
BTW, what's with Amazon stating a retail price so high it's rediculous so they can give you a much lower Amazon price? Who are they kidding anyway?
Excellent Saw 2007-09-15
I have owned this saw for seven months and can say without hesitation I am incredibly happy with my purchase. The saw was set up accuratly right out of the box and the included blade is fine for cutting framing lumber and worked well on cheap door casing. The motor is very powerful and the handle grip is comfortable to use. The dust bag could be a little bigger and even with the bag attached the saw makes a bit of a mess with dust, but this is a very minor issue as the function of the saw itself can't be beat.
I'm going to try again, will give it another chnce 
2008-07-19
After purchasing and then returning a Hitachi 12" dual bevel saw that had quality issues purchased from Lowe's (I wrote a review for that saw), I decided to purchase the DeWalt DW716 from Lowes. I really liked the DW716. Easy set up and accurate. I'm in the middle of installing crown and larger baseboards in every room in my house. After making three cuts, this saw just quit. Nothing, nada. The owners manual troubleshooting section states nothing of an overload or reset on this saw. It says to check that the power cord is plugged in (check) and check that the C.B. or fuse is not tripped (check). The 20 Amp circuit was fine (120 Volts measured). I went ahead and ate lunch, came back still nothing. Probably a bad switch or loose connection. I took the saw back and ordered a Bosch 4212L. Fast shipment from Amazon. I immediately fell in love with the Bosch saw. Short lived love affair, I discovered this saw was broken at the locking pin that holds the saw head assembly right out of the box. The pot metal had chipped in the area where the pin extends and the pin would keep slipping allowing the saw handle to move up. After talking to a Bosch factory rep. he said this is a total disassembly of the saw. This saw was probably a returned saw. One of the bags containing parts had been stapled back together. All other bags were like they were factory sealed. I am currently in the process of returning the Bosch saw back to Amazon.com for a refund. So far Amazon's return process has been excellent. Tomorrow, I will go back to Lowe's and purchase a second Dewalt DW716. I would try another Bosch from Amazon but I don't have the time to sit around and wait. The same thing could happen. I did like the features of that first DW716 and I figure it could have just been one of those things. That DeWalt has straight forward adjustments for the blade tuning. It's probably just my current situation, but I have run into many quality issues across the spectrum from many brands recently. I'm getting paranoid. I now know that Hitachi is having quality issues for sure (Made in China). The Bosch was (Made in Taiwan) the DeWalt at least is North America (Made in Mexico). Maybe we need to get some of this work back. Sorry, I'm venting.
Very nice saw 2008-07-17
This saw is great. I'm still getting used to all the features as I am used to using a much simpler saw. I have build quite a few shelves so far and will be doing flooring soon. Great saw and the stock blade isn't half bad either. I find that aligning the cut with the blade is perfect and I won't be buying the laser attachment.
I love this saw 2008-06-28
I am a self employed trim carpenter that is very particular about tools, This saw is the heart of my operation and it does a lot. It is extremely accurate, and was set up perfectly from the minute I opened the box.
I added the laser and that is a real time saver.
Again mine is extremely accurate, I like the crown stops/ settings- they work REALLY well and flip right out the way when you need them to. I will never bed another piece of crown to cut it like on my old dewalt without those stops. This is much better/ Safer
I do not like the blade that came on the saw. I bought the 80 tooth dewalt trim blade and got much better results.
I do think the saw could have a bit more torque as bevel cuts in wide stock will labor it even with a pretty sharp blade. This is the only weakness I see. It runs much better/stronger on a 20 amp circuit which is available %50 of the time. Many newer homes only have 15 amp circuits. Sometime we can get the electrician to make us a temporary 20 amp outlet on a new home and many generators have 20's I run high TPI blades and the more teeth the more it pulls the motor and it cuts slower but the smoother the cut. Choose the right blade for good results.
Cord length is important too I don't think it should be on any longer than 50 feet or any less than 12 gauge wire for an extension cord for good power and motor life. The shorter the cord the better.
First job I did with this saw I made over ten times what it cost so I think it already paid for itself.
I have since used it to trim more homes out and last job was to build a really fancy open stairway with over the post railings and the saw handled everything ok- fence was big enough to support volutes and pitch block just fine. You just have to cut treads twice- but it was not bad at all to do (just spin them end for end- saw stays the same) and I would not buy the heavy sliding model just to save a small amount of time.
This saw works great on the Dewalt miter saw stand.
The brake stops the blade pretty fast.
I do the kind of advanced carpentry work that many others would like to do but do not have the knowledge, experience, or patience for. I take my time and get things the way they should be. I charge a good but fair price for my work and I expect a tool to perform at a level that allows me do quality work I can feel good about asking someone to pay me for. This tool delivers for me.
I have since bought a 10" dewalt single bevel for regular trim, this is my Crown and large trim saw now.
Good for a pro or someone who just wants a good precise cut and a saw that will last.
DW716 Miter Saw 2008-06-22
I purchased this saw to install crown moulding in my home. The fact that it allows you to override the detenting capability made it attractive and worth the purchase. When you need dead on precision this is the saw for you. After setting up and tuning it, it cut right on the money. The sliding miter I used previously always detented in the 45 degree mark making it difficult to cut near 45. Yes you can shim it here or there but its still a trial and error method. Also the sliding miter saw I used always had some play from side to side that I reluctantly just had to get used to. This made my purchase of the DW716 all the more easier. I would recommend it for anyone wanting accuracy without sacrificing versatility.
The best replacement choice available, but still not the best saw. 
2008-05-13
I originally owned a Delta 12" dual bevel compound miter saw with dual laser. Unfortunately, a gear broke in that saw last month. I took it in to have it repaired since it was still under warranty, but... DeWalt now owns Delta, and upon aquiring Delta, DeWalt discontinued this Delta saw, which was easily the best designed saw on the market. The Delta saw sold for $400, had dual bevel, compound miter with a dual laser. The dual laser was awesome because it could be aligned with both sides of the blade for quick cuts not matter which side of the blade you were using. In addition to those features, the Delta saw had nearly one and a half inches more cutting capacity than any other 12 miter on the market. Futhermore, the bevel adjustment on the Delta saw was in front of the saw (above the knob for locking the miter settings). This made bevel adjustments quick and easy, and saved me a LOT of time on crown moulding jobs. The last feature that was on the Delta, was bevel stops for crown angles. Most saws only have bevel stops at 0 and 45 degrees.
Now after saying all that. While my Delta was in the shop, I purchased a Hitachi dual bevel compound miter, and have been very dissapointed. It is an OK saw, but is just not as productive as the Delta. It only has a single laser, bevel adjustments in back, no crown bevel stops, etc. The other annoying thing is that the laser line dissapears when you begin to cut.
Moving on to the DeWalt saw. Since my Delta has been discontinued by DeWalt (THANKS DEWALT!!!), I was given the option of a refund of my purchase price, or a DW716 with a laser attachment. I took the saw, but only after much arguing. Once I reached the right person at DeWalt, I was offered the 716, the laser, and some extra blades for my trouble. As I wrote in the title, the DeWalt is the best alternative but is clearly inferior to the Delta.
Pros:
Smooth operation. The belt drive is quieter and smoother. I like this a little more than the operation of my Delta.
More compact. It is actually a little smaller than the delta, so it takes up a little less space in my crowded van.
Fits on my DeWalt stand better. I own a dewalt stand (great product), but the table of the Delta saw (its fence) never matched up well with the supports on the stand (the saw's fence sat back too far), so very small pieces of moulding would always fall off the back of the supports and irritate me. The dewalt naturally matches up perfectly.
The fence: The dewalt fences are very accurate. The hitachi's fences are slightly off from eachother, and I have not been able to get them to match up perfectly, so I use it for rough cuts, not for finish ones. The Dewalt was set up by the service center for me, and everything is dead on.
Cons:
Laser. I just can not understand why they can not have a dual laser on this saw. Delta had the technology 3 years ago, and you bought them. When are you going to put this feature on your saws. I would gladly pay extra for it. The time savings doing finish carpentry more than justifies the extra cost.
The bevel adjustment. once you have used a saw with a front adjustment for the bevel, you never want to go back to reaching around the back of the saw. It is a waste of time. Again, you bought Delta, and they had the technology, why is it not now on your saws?
Pull pin for bevel. There is an annoying pull pin in back that you must pull in order to flip the bevel from one side of 0 to the other. This is annoying, and was not on my Delta. It is one more non value added step that decreases productivity when doing finish work like Crown moulding that requires constant flipping of the bevel.
No bevel stops for crown angles. There are only bevel stops at 0 and 45 on each side of 0. once you have used a saw that has quick stops at crown bevel angles, it is a waste of time to have to adjust the bevel to the precise angle every cut. The stops would be a HUGE time saver.
Less Cutting capacity. nearly an inch and a half less cutting capacity than my Delta 12" I tried cutting a 3/4" x 11" piece of plywood, and had to flip it after the first cut to finish the cut. My Delta would have done it in one cut. The video shows the ability for the dewalt to cut a 2x10 at 90 degrees if you remove the fence, add something (it looks like a scrap) below the piece you are cutting, and use the back fence. This is a time consuming workaround because of the saw's smaller cutting capacity.
Warranty: This saw only carries a 1 year warranty. My Delta had a full 2 year warranty.
To sumarize, it is a very good saw, and probably the best one currently available on the market, but is still inferior to the Delta saw that I had. If you have never owned the Delta, you will likely be very happy with this saw. I like it for what it is, but will likely never be truly satisfied with it because of all the missing features that I previously enjoyed. The time that will be added to each job will, because of the missing features, add up and eclipse the price of the saw in a month or two. I would be willing to pay hundreds more for a DeWalt saw that had those features. It would be worth the price, unfortunately, DeWalt does not seem interested in producing such a saw.
Finally... DeWalt's customer service did eventually try hard to accomodate me. it started out slow, but I have to admit that they finished strong, and I am now pleased with their effort.
