want go into the festool but found its not as easy as i thought

[Crazyraceguy]

I am not that concerned about the cost because I am just hobbyist, which mean I am not making money with it , so the return will not be that important.

I always looked at it just the opposite. When you do make a living with your tools, the cost is lees important, because it will come back to you, especially if it improves speed.
I would think a hobbyist would be more price sensitive for that same reason. It's not going to "pay for itself" and speed is not necessarily a factor either.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Make sur you you get the holy rail its the same price or only a few dollars more. truthfully I dont understand why festool doesnt just make all the rails holy.

I have wondered this for years too, though I was told that the "cost being the same" thing was really only in the US. For some reason that it not the case in Europe?

I too have a 4' x 8' MFT style table, as I am not portable. It is used almost exclusively for clamping, either as hold-down or pushing into square.  I have a second table a few steps away with only a few holes that I use for cutting. I do it all with dogs though. I have never used a hinge style set-up.
I use it for cutting/trimming panels on the reception desk units that I build. While I cut the main parts out on a huge computerized beam saw, they are cut to "nominal" measurements from my cut list.  Some adjustment is usually needed. I'm generally cutting parts that are too wide for the Dewalt SCMS but not so big that it would be worth it to go to the big vertical panel saw. It's also easier to cut something that is not square that way. The big saws only do square.

 

[DeformedTree]

Businesses make a business case, if the tool doesn't pay for itself by some metric, it doesn't happen.

If it's your hobby, it's a hobby like anything else, it's a money pit. If it saves you some money over hiring someone, great.  No need for price justification. Unlike most hobbies, woodworking/construction type hobbies have a chance to save you money.  Golf clubs, or a boat does not.

 

[squall_line]

I am not that concerned about the cost because I am just hobbyist, which mean I am not making money with it , so the return will not be that important.

I always looked at it just the opposite. When you do make a living with your tools, the cost is lees important, because it will come back to you, especially if it improves speed.
I would think a hobbyist would be more price sensitive for that same reason. It's not going to "pay for itself" and speed is not necessarily a factor either.

Depends on the hobbyist, really. 

There are quite a few "five minute" hobbyists who have just about that amount of time every day that they can devote to their hobby, or in no larger chunks than five minutes.  My brother is sometimes one of those, juggling small children, a work-from-home job, and other obligations. 

I'm not in that position yet, but sometimes I feel like that's all the time I have. 

Having more precise / more efficient tools gives me the confidence to be able to jump into a small task and not worry that I'll spend more time fighting with the project than I spend working on it.  Adding dust collection doesn't eliminate the cleanup required, but I can spend much less time cleaning up between project chunks because of it, and if that DC solution is quiet (i.e., not a blunt instrument vac), it eliminates a lot of hassles as well.

That said, I also want to be efficient with my dollars.  Any extra money spent on tools is less that I have for materials or other relaxation items, but as DT said, it can also save me vs. hiring the job out.

 

[afish]

I will say the newer cordless Dewalt barrel grip jigsaw is awesome.  Best jigsaw I have ever had I like everything about it.  Even though I have never used the Festool one it would be a hard sell to get me to stop using the Dewalt one.
  I cant think of one dewalt tool I have that I would trade for a festool version other than the sanders. The Dewalt sanders feel big and clunky now and never get used. 

One of the guys at work has one and he loves it too. He got it after asking my advice about barrel grip saws in general, because that's what my  Carvex is.

I have always used pneumatic sanders because of the form factor. I just don't like the tall feeling of electrics. When the ETS EC came along basically in that shape, I was sold. The Rotex sanders are so completely different that they take some getting used to anyway. I use them two-handed, more like a grinder or buffer.

I will never own a top handle jig saw again.  Some think its odd until you try to cope anything then the barrel grip shines night and day above the top handle.  Being able to cut from the under side opens up many more possibilities. Plus I feel I have better control with the lower grip.  I dont even understand why HD stocks the top handle but not the barrel... I also agree with the pneumatic sanders they are  best for shop use but almost useless for mobile guy as they just need to much air. Even though Im not that mobile sometimes I need to work on one of my other properties and bringing along a 60 gallon compressor is not ideal.  The 3m pneumatics are hard to beat for the money plus I like the cubitron paper. I do like the DTS and ETS REQ for the taller stubby factor, sometimes that stubby factor helps get into tighter spots where typically height isnt much of an issue but for sanding big panels at a bench the EC wins for sure with its low profile.