Ancient B&D circular saw just died in middle of a bit of flooring chipboard so I cannot wait for special deals. I have read the Wiki and past recommendations. The Makita 5704RK looks as if it wd do me and is within budget at
Is the cable as short on the real Makita? (On my Site its only about 6' long - nice rubber - but too short)
Yes, could not tell any difference between them.
Depends what you want it for. Mostly I use my fixed cabinet saw for everything, because it's just neater and safer than a freehand saw. My handheld saw is thus reduced to only breaking down plywood sheets. For this I use a cheap, lightweight Skil (when Skil were decent). Being small and light, it's a better saw for simple sheetgoods than "real" circular saws. It is though fitted with a fine blade, and for these small saws it is often difficult to find other blades to fit diameter and bore.
I've also got a couple of Makitas that I use for onsite carpentry. Either Makita or Hitachi IMHE are good choices. Bending the sheetmetal is the usual problem. A sheetmetal base can get bent, so Hitachi can win out here, but they also seem very easy to bend their riving knife. If you can find any of the red "Site" stuff around, that seems like very good value.
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