I'm pretty sure this has been covered but I tried a few times with the search engine and got too many results to look through.  Am looking to purchase this router but was is the difference between the two beside the price difference.

I went for the set. It seams that Festool options are much less expensive when bought as a set. Providing that you eventually will use the options.
Andy

The thing about the entire MFK 700 system is that until you use it, you just have no clue all the productive things it will do for you.

Although I have taken all of the Festool USA End User Classes, and we used the MFK 700 in some of those, to me it seems to take forever to adjust one for a given task. The upside is that once adjusted, the MFK 700 stays adjusted forever.

Now the wonderful thing is you can buy the router part alone at a savings. The kit comes with more than one base, but another base is sold separately. When you remove the router from one base to use it on another, you need to start the adjustment process all over.

In the real world of production trimming, you need to go back and forth from trimming the top of self-edging to trimming the over-hang of the top. To me these are tasks best performed by the vertical base and the zero degree base, which is an optional extra. The one and a half degree base is very effective trimming typical thin hardwood self edging because the slight slope makes it far less likely you will mar the main surface.

So almost from the introduction in the USA of the MFK 700 system, I bought the kit and the optional zero degree base. As I gained experience I bought two of the basic routers, so I could leave each kind of base set up with the appropriate bits and of course with the router motors.

In my shop 3-10mm thick solid hardwood edge banding is being attached to something over 8 man hours a day. Primarily this is the chore of the one and a half degree base. In a rush two of us might be trimming and if we had to swap router elements, we would lose precious time. Therefore I own 4 of the 1.5 degree bases and motors for them. These days we do hardly any high pressure laminate work, so I only keep one each vertical and zero degree set up. But I do have one spare motor not set up on any base.

My calculation is I made back the cost of those routers the first year. Wasted labor is a cost I cannot recover. But if I have to do so, I can always sell well maintained Festools for a major percentage of their original cost. So in the case of my MFK 700 I cannot lose my investment.

Is the parallel edge guide adaptable to my Festool guide rail?  Or is there a seperate accessory that can I can attach?

First thing I thought upon getting the 700 with the bases is that it addresses every possible need for accurate edge trimming.  I'd guess there's not a whole lot of reason to even buy this tool unless you buy it with the horizontal base.  And the follow bearing seems to be a must-have as well.

But more importantly - Why on earth were the 0-degree and the 1 1/2degree horizontal bases not made as ONE base with interchangeable inserts??!

Darn shame that I need to spend another $165 just to get 0-degree horizontal capability when it could have been built-in to he single horizontal base by design.

As with a lot of Festool stuff (like a lot of Apple OE software), they're so close to hitting the perfection mark but fall short on some very simple fronts.

JT

Yes, the MFK 700 EQ Basic (cat 574 419) includes the Vertical Base n\and does not include a Systainer 2 TL.

The MFK 700 EQ Set (cat 574 369) also includeds the 1.5 degree Horizontal Base and the feeler bearing set, plus a Systainer 2 TL.

The Zero degree Horizontal Base Unit (cat 491 427) is sold separately.

Both the MFK 700 Basic and MFK 700 Set include one each 1/4" and 8mm collets.

So I ended up getting the MFK 700 set.  Such a sweet tool.  The hose adapter off the base is oval?  Why?  I did not have a problem putting the vacuum hose on.  I noticed the same thing on the 1010

It does grip pretty well.  I also noticed that if you use a router bit without a bearing guide, you have to use shorter router bits.  I grabbed my flute bit and noticed it was too long to do a mortise for a hinge butt.

I followed his instructions and it works very well indeed.  I can now flush trim that is  up to 1 inch wide and, using a down spiral bit, no possibility of tear out. Festool should pay him to copy this design.

Cheers,