I have a dewalt, a mikita and two hitachis (one old one newer). The dewalt for sure is not buy once, cry once. The hitachi is much better built and would be what I recommend.

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Originally posted by sjtill:

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Short of Festool money

Everything's short of Festool money.
From a review comparing Festool Kapex with Bosch Glide:

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And while the Kapex is a great saw too, it’s not “more than twice the price” great. The Bosch is about $600 and the Kapex is about $1500. As I see it there are two groups who probably should consider the Kapex:

Those who do on-site installs where portability, accuracy, and dust collection are critical.
Those who are obsessed with good dust collection.
Outside of that, buying the Kapex becomes a matter of “because you can” and not “because you need to.”

I am pretty fanatical about dust collection, Festool's superb dust collection with the track saw and sanders makes it possible for me to enjoy woodworking without allergic problems.

Dust collection is what got me into Festool and I've got a fair collection od systainers now. I do have a Kapex and while I hesitate to say it's worth double the money of a "good" mitersaw it is the best I've used and I can use it in my basement shop without making a huge mess.

The 12 inch Ridgid coumpound bevel miter worked for me. The Ridgid collapsible stand with wheels is pretty slick, strong, and stiff, very nice. It's not a slider, but it will chop off 2x8, 4x4, and I think, maybe, 4x6, which is all I'll ever need. If I need to slice anything wider like a 2x10 or 2x12, I'll improvise or rent. The Ridgid brand is pretty decent, not pro quality, but I've seen pros using this brand. The best pros, of course, use better quality machines. The big Dewalt gets pretty good reviews, but if you can afford better, get it. Like a nice gun, cry once so you won't have to cry later when you replace it with the model you really wanted to begin with. So my collection consists of Ridgid and Milwaukee, and these work for me. I'm about done with my Ryobi stuff. I'll use it when I need to, but those pieces are not my go to machines any longer. I agree with the other guys that are recommending the Hitachis and Makitas, those are better, and probably Milwaukee right along with those guys. My Milwaukee 18v Fuel is an impressive tool. Any future battery powered tools will be in the Milwaukee Fuel line.