Festool Eccentric sanders pricing

Mettes

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Joined
Mar 14, 2008
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153
Let's start with the numbers, prices from the Festool Belgium website (VAT included)

ETSC 2 150-basic - €551,51 - comes with cordless sander, Systainer, dustbag and edge protector
ETSC 2 150 4,0 I-plus - €913,25 - comes with the above and two 4,0h batteries and charger TCL 6

ETS EC 150/5 EQ-plus - €848,00 - corded sander, Systainer, plug-it cord

What is your first thought, seeing these prices?

Mine was that we are either getting a lot of bang for the buck when buying the basic cordless sander, or that the corded sander is (way) overpriced.

They are both sanders with a pad, housing, an engine, and electronics. One works on main power and the other one 18v, but that's the only difference.
On top of that you get an edge protector and a dustbag with the cordless sander, and the ringlight.

In fact the set with the batteries seems to me a better buy than the corded, for €65 extra you get the flexibility of two batteries you can use on a lot of other tools.

The weight of the two sanders:
cordless with the 4,0 battery - 1,8kg
cordless with 3,0 battery - 1,6kg
corded - 1,5kg

So unless you're sanding overhead, the difference is, I think, negligible.
Weight balance with the battery is OK, for as far as I can tell. I held it at a demo for a short time, didn't sand with it.
I have no idea of runtime and that, to me, is the biggest question mark/drawback of the cordless.

There are off course situations where a corded sander is in the advantage, sanding all day, in a shopenvironment,...
But for most of us?

I have a ETS EC 150/5 since many years and I absolutely love that sander. It's perfectly balanced, low vibrations, perfect dust collection, everything you can wish for in a sander.

I'm thinking about getting an extra eccentric sander, but I doubt it will be corded...

Hans
 
Note the cordless models have a 3.5mm orbit while the corded ones you choose between 3mm and 5mm. If you're used to the speed of a 5mm orbit sander, you might be disappointed in the 3.5mm orbit. Then again, for some it might be the right compromise between surface finish and speed.
 
From EKAT, the ETSC 2 looks a lot more like the ETS series than the ETS EC to me. It's nestled in that zone where you're not sanding 24/7 and don't need a tank. Priced accordingly.
 
Not that im about to go buy one, but ive just realised we dont seem to have the ETSC 2's down under yet.... went looking for pricing to see a comparison.
 
The prices on Festool own sites in Europe are not representative. If I look at reputable German webshops I get the following:
Ets ec 150/5: 540
Etsc 2 150: 400
Etsc 2 150 with 2 4.0 and charger: 670
All in systainer.

Also Festool is running a 100 cashback on all these
 
These are different sanders. Simple as that. Festool does NOT "version" their tools with numbers.

Easy example from the past:
RS 1 .. newer version was RS 100 .. these were geared sanders
RS 2 .. newer version was RS 200 .. the "main workhorse" of the RS series, the Mercedes S class of the Rutschers
RS 3 .. newer version was RS 300 .. again geared, but differently

Then came ... the RTS 400, the mini/small Rutscher, again a different type of a sander (still around under the RTS 400 R* model version)

So, today, Festool has 4 eccentric sander design families on offer:
ETS 150 series (the original bulletproof pro use "daddy"), corded only
ETS/ETSC 125 series (the small finish sander series)
ETS EC 125/150 series (the no-propeller pro use sanders), corded only
ETSC 2 series - the new "universal" site and hobby use sanders, cordless only

If you need a shop animal, corded it is, hence no point in making a cordless ETS EC.
If you need a universal sander (possibly your only one), have a serious look at the ETSC 2. Again, no point making a corded variety of it - both the hobby (aka the "one sander" people) and site use markets went cordless by now.
 
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