They haven't been as fast to adopt refinements. Mini Max has stayed with the industrial market, only making one (if I recall correctly) model that has pushed into the "pro-sumer" market. Laguna has gone full steam into that market and competition has force them to innovate. Don't read me wrong, MM still makes great stuff, but for my needs (the bottom end of the industrial market), The Lagunas now have an edge with accessories and features. I needed a saw with at least 16" wheels, the ability for big resaw capacity, and ability to tension wide blades. At the time, MM was one of the few producing an affordable saw, everything at lower price points was still being made with the cast iron columns vs, the MM steel box beams. It wasn't long after that other mfgs started to make steel box beam saws (Jet comes to mind). Evolution in action. I actually wish I had bought the 18" since the 16" was a bit small to properly run the carbide blades without eventual fatigue cracking of the blade metal (the blades were thicker and the smaller radius of the wheels became a factor. I believe newer carbide blades are now available with thinner blade stock so I am probably ok running one on a 16", but my needs have changed a bit and the standard resaw blades work perfectly (without having to pay the exorbitant prices for carbide)
Check out the web sites. The MM still looks much like mine, after more than a decade. Improvements are a better table tilt (mine is rock solid, but very user unfriendly), and improved guides. Power and capacity are also a bit better. Laguna has many more options available.
Given more time and demand, I'm sure MM will re-design their stuff and be on top again. One big draw to MM at the time was superb customer service. The initial order and delivery was flawless. Based on reports I read, that has slipped a bit (although I have never had anything break where I required four star service). Laguna had spotty service at the time I ordered and when I couldn't get basic questions answered, I bought the MM and never looked back.
The big shocker to me however is the prices (more than 2x what I paid)
-BR
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