Good product - lousy warranty support
helpful for 11 of 12 people
I have used this saw in commercial home restoration for ten months, and, although the torque is a little whimpy, it has worked nicely for me - until it broke. However, I cannot be even this positive about Panasonic warranty support. Although this saw is very expensive, I bought it because I wanted a battery operated saw, and I wanted to stay compatible with Panasonic's great batteries. (I already own two Panasonic EY6432 15.6 volt drills as well as the EY6535 multi-driver which are truely great tools that hold up well under commercial use.) The wood saw stalls fairly easily, but it will saw 2x4s and even rip 1 inch boards effectively if you guide it straight to avoid binding. It is very light making it especially handy for sawing trim with one hand while hanging off a ladder. However, it has a plastic body that has a narrow section right where it attaches to the base. One day the body broke right at this narrow section. Mind you that this saw may have been dropped from normal working height, but it was not mistreated or dropped from a roof. However, Panasonic refuses to fix it under warranty. Their treatment of customers is impersonal and unsupportive.
9/4/2004
Lefty?
Let me start by saying that I am buying the 18v Pano kit (mainly for the saws). After two years of near daily use on the jobsite, my 15.6 drill is just about the best tool I have. It is well balanced, small, and packed with power. Just the other day, after a full day of use previous, it had to rescue a corded Ryobi (let's not go there) that started smoking about 1/4 of the way through mixing a 60 pound bag of mortar; the 15.6 finished the mix and went on to finish out screwing down the rest of the deck boards. I love this drill so much I bought the combo set (before the 18v were introduced). Out of the box I was excited... then perplexed. Something was wrong...
The saw is a LEFT HAND saw!!! Study the pictures and think about it. Every time I am in a pinch and need a cordless saw I lament the left-handedness of my Pano. The body is in the way and it is near impossible to see your lines (it's like the entire engineering dept. at Panasonic dropped the ball... or are all left-handed). Now my poor Pano saw just roughs out ply shims/spacers and cuts cement board.
The drill is fantastic. So much so that I am constantly having to retrieve it from the other guys who own other brands of cordless drills.
The saw is for lefty's. If that's you, this combo kit or saw is a dream come true.
8/30/2006
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