Circular saw buying advice?

[shponglefan]

Any buying advice for a first-time buyer of a circular saw?  I've never owned one before.  Always used a table saw in the past, but the table saw is old, guides are wonky, and it's a pain to cut anything over 3 feet.

Anyway, I was looking at this DeWalt saw, and wondered if it would be ideal.

Also, what do people use to support the wood when using a circular saw?  Saw horses, workbenches, tables?

[Beretta]

well im far from a "tool guy" but i have used a few circular saws before.

the one i bought not to long ago was actually a Chicago tool from HF, iirc i paid 35.99 for it.

obviously if you're looking at dewalt then money is'nt a big concern here, and dont get me wrong dewalt does make a quality tool.

none the less im very pleased with this saw it even came with a pretty nice blade.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95004


but like i said if you can afford teh dewalt then you can't go wrong there just a lot more expensive.. although it might (actually probably will) also last longer.. but hey for 35 bucks i can't complain a bit.

EDIT: oh i forget about support, ya pretty much anything will work for support.. saw horses are'nt to much, you can get the wood ones that will take 2x4's good cause you can replace when you cut though them by accident.. or you can get some cheap plastic ones from HF, they work fine although not easy to repair if you cut though them.

or you can just use any other surface, basically you just need to get the section you're cutting off the ground so almost anything will do.

[gryhnd]

Don't go cheap on quality. In the long run you regret it: frustration, inaccurate cuts, under powered, etc.

I like sidewinder saws. They are heavy, but they move through stock like a hot knife through butter, with the added (and to me nearly the most important) advantage of actually being able to see what your cutting due to their blade orientation.

I have this one by Rigid.

[bungy]

I have that dewalt saw and it works great, it's a high quality tool.  I used it for almost every cut on my cab using a homemade sawboard (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=43568.0).  That saw can cut bevels and you can adjust the depth.  The motor on this saw has a very low clearance, but the depth adjustment raises it enough to go over clamps or thicker ripping guides.

I use an old door on top of some sawhorses out in my driveway when I'm cutting.  For your first cuts when shaping your sides you'll only need sawhorses, just make sure you don't cut through them.

[shponglefan]

Ending up getting that DeWalt saw.  It came down to it, a Rigid or a Mikita.  But I liked the bevel adjustment on the DeWalt the best, so I went with it.  It's been very easy to use so far.  I've already used it to cut the main pieces for my 1-player controller and plan to use it for my main cab down the road.

[Shortbus]

If your not worried about price and plan to get alot of use from it, dewalt is nice, I have one, not sure what model, it's yellow.lol. but the one I had before was a cheapie, and to be honest I don't notice a difference, with any tool, if you have a good blade/sharp, it will get the job done, especially for cabinets.

I've always had my eye on the Festool, comes with it's own cutting guide, which to me is the biggest pita about using a circular saw. check it out @ http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18121&filter=circular%20saw

good luck.....