DEWALT 7-1/4-Inch Circular Saw, 15-Amp, Worm Drive, Corded (DWS535B)

I have been woodworking for a long time. I've always struggled with breaking down plywood using my cabinet saw. I usually work alone and lack sufficient space for out-feed accessory tables, etc. When I do ask for help from my family while cutting sheet goods, there is usually an issue resulting in a bad cut.I was skeptical a 6 1/2 blade on a circular saw could produce an acceptable quality cut. I was wrong. The saw is terrific breaking down sheet goods. It has lots of power and makes terrific cuts. I bought a sheet of 1.5" insulation board to use as a sacrificial surface. I lay the plywood on it and make my cuts. It's easy, quick and accurate.The other use is to put a straight edge on rough hardwood lumber. I built a jig so I could do this on the table saw but the track saw handles this so much more easily.Out of the box: The saw is solid and well-made. The instructions were a bit disjointed. There was an odd booklet attached to the saw handle that was presumably intended as a quick start guide. It had no text, only illustrations. The initial set up involves tightening the saw guides to remove any wiggle between the base of the saw and the track. Next, you start the saw and run down the track to trim the rubber strip that acts as a zero clearance insert would on a table saw to prevent splintering. It also trims the track to the exact line of the saw cut. That's it! It took about two minutes. I ended up watching a YouTube video to learn the setup process because DeWalt tried to make the documentation too simple for a simple guy like me to decipher.I love the saw. The plunge mechanism is like 'buttah'. I purchased two sections of track and the accessory required to join them. This is a $20 accessory not included with the saw or track. Amazon didn't sell it when I bought the saw or when I composed this review. I had a difficult time finding one. I think you may be better off buying the 102" track to cut full sheets of plywood along with the 59". The saw doesn't pass smoothly over the joint in the track (sticks a bit). Although it has not affected the cut, I'm afraid the track will move when I nudge the saw to get it past the joint. I have to keep an allen wrench in my pocket to put the track together and take it apart for various cuts. It's a bit of a pain and could benefit from some design improvement. The tool simplifies things so much, however, even with the issue with joining track it's still much better and easier than using a table saw.I also purchased the accessory clamps. You don't need them to cut material that is lying flat. The track stays put with friction alone. If you need to cut vertical surfaces or require a little 'insurance' while cutting expensive material, the clamps are for you. I saw a video of someone using the saw to trim the bottom of a door without removing it. They clamped the track onto the door and cut it right there.UPDATE:I've been using the saw for over a year. It still works great and I've had zero issues with it or the tracks. I've found it makes cutting sheet goods for cabinet boxes so much easier than using a table saw. I still love it!I also noticed a some people thought the review I wrote above wasn't helpful. I'm a little surprised because I tried to provide useful information. I often depend on these reviews to make my own purchase decisions. That's why I bother to write them. Is it the case the review I wrote wasn't useful or did you simply disagree my review or dislike DeWalt tools? Curious...

Every positive review about this saw so far is correct, this is a very useful tool.Purchased this instead of a panel saw that was snapped up on CL. We're completing a remodel that went down to new framing in areas - this tool adds to a good miter saw, some great circular saws, excellent straight edges and two different table saws. At this point, so many things involve sheet materials or long straight cuts in finish-grade objects (built-in and closet work, etc.). This saw is not as useful overall as our DeWalt miter saw, but it elevates the quality of work to the same degree - from "almost good" to "solid and well made".Paying a per-cut charge to get "within 1/8 or so" accuracy and a shabby cut, plus waiting vs. this saw giving smooth, deadly-accurate cuts of veneer plywood? This saw wins and pays for itself in a hundred cuts.Long straight cuts are very smooth using a long track and the supplied blade. Trimming finished doors to clear thicker carpet worked great - no chips, nice smooth cuts. It is so nice to make one cut instead of a rough and finish cut. It is especially nice to square up a edge or two of a sheet instead of chasing the edges around on a table saw.It is not too easy to get used to the forward / down movement required to lower the blade to the workpiece, and it is definitely anxiety mode starting a full 96 inch cut, but it works fine in practice. I cut material between 1/2 and 1-3/4 with this, consisting of particle board, soft wood, or shop and cabinet grade plywood with excellent results so far.The idea of putting foam on the floor as a cut support is nice, but then using clamps might be a problem. I knocked together a wood bench from 2x4s that has a few long spaces on top so that I can work at table-saw height. Anything that does a nice job of supporting both sides of the cut, for the length of the cut works great.The DeWalt clamps work very well. They are fidgety to use though because a person has to have the work overhang with enough clearance for the tail of the clamps to hang down. It is too bad the clamps do not have a way to work with the tail facing up instead of down. No problem using the clamps if the work is on a sawhorse or bench.Dust control works very well. I use a flexible, rubbery hose adapter from the big box store to reduce to the saw size. It's really good to get in the habit of hooking up a vacuum - for heath and neatness and to preserve the life of the "friction strip" on the track that helps to hold it in place. It's best to be sure that the saw and the work are clean before laying the track down.This is not a $400 tool. Check out the price with a spare (the red colored one) blade, vacuum hose and adapter, clamps, two tracks, work support and tax - it adds up quickly. There are small table saws that cost less than this saw fully equipped.Table saw vs this track saw: It's not a table saw. Repeat short to medium cuts are not as quick and sure as a table saw because setup or a quick jig is needed. Of course, dado and rabbets won't happen with this saw. I'd be hard pressed to decide between this saw and a small table saw (similar money) as my first DIY tool upgrade. Looking back at the use, all the sheet good experiences were frustrating and time consuming on a small table saw, but all the long rips and duplicate cut type work on the table saw were great. We could not have done our remodel without a table saw, but some parts of the job would not be good quality without this saw. For a DIY first 700+ buck saw, I'd give this tool a slight edge over a table saw of the same money, with the advice to save up for a nicer table saw later too.I'd rate it 4.5 to 4.75 out of 5 if I could, due to the long track length (a tad short) and the odd blade-lowering mechanism. This saw might hold up to professional use if used with care. If it fails too soon or has some big issue, I'll come back to update this review.