DeWalt 254mm DWE7491-X

I've had the Dewalt DWE7491-XE (with its stand) since June 2017. I rip and crosscut mostly MDF and 4mm thick Alucobond (aluminium composite material). The supplied Dewalt saw blade provides a reasonably smooth and accurate cut through the MDF and I use an aluminium blade for the Alucobond with good results.

I have ripped 100mm or thicker wood by cutting through either side but haven't had the smoothest sawn face (but acceptable for my needs). I bought a dado set and accompanying throat plate from Dewalt in the US and this has worked very well the few times I've used it.

The saw was simple to set up and I found it was accurately aligned. I've since tweaked the alignment of the blade and fence and am getting very accurate and true to angle cuts. The table top isn't completely flat and I sometimes have to allow for that when cutting thin strips.

The supplied Dewalt fence is very poor with far too much slop in the mitre tracks for my needs. I bought an Incra mitre fence and Mitre Express for crosscutting. The mitre tracks in the table seem slightly wider than standard and I had to adjust the Incra mitre rail to its limit to get rid of sideways movement. The result is I can crosscut 600mm widths to well within 0.3mm (often to 0.1mm) along each side. I can cut mitres repeatedly to within 0.2 degrees (the limit of precision of my digital protractor).

I agree with one reviewer who said that the blade raising mechanism is exposed to sawdust. I vacuum the screw mechanism (and the rest of the saw) at the end of each day's use. The height adjustment sometimes does get somewhat stiff but loosens up if I raise and lower the blade a few times.

The motor is very noisy so ear protection is absolutely necessary.

Overall I like the saw and it's my go to workshop tool.

Just got my 7491 back from Dewalt. It has a bad design on the blade raise screw. Instead of taking responsibility and fix or covering it with warranty, Dewalt push it back on the owner and they claim misuse and won’t cover it. The thread takes all the weight. And it’s completely exposed to sawdust. Cost me $250au to repair.

Deceptive advertising stating heavy duty. It's not. Deceptive 3 year warranty. DeWalt won't honor warranty. Deceptive dewalt repair lying about mis-use when it's hardly been used. Don't buy this item because of the 3 year warranty. It's useless. And dewalt repair centre is dishonest. It's faster to get the part and repair it yourself instead of waiting 10 business days. DeWalt is dishonest and deceptive.

I was rising up between the Metabo table saw (2000W) and the Dewalt. The Metabo is very good and has built in folding legs, but the accuracy of the fence and the way it is geared so that it is always parallel is brilliant and is what eventually swayed me. The fence support and fold over for fine work is also clever.
All accessories can be stored in the machine during transport.
It's very sturdy and well built the motor has plenty of grunt. They are popular and I can see why. If you buy one you won't be disappointed.

This table saw is compact enough to put away, yet has one of the widest ripping widths (825mm) I've seen in a portable.. which is really handy if you might work on really wide chunks/planks of wood!

Being a tall guy, I originally intended to buy the table saw alone (as decribed here), and build a stand to my height. In the end, I bought the saw+stand kit because it was cheaper to take the stand and table saw, than to buy the table saw alone. (So check for these sorts of sales!) I got a stand included WHILE saving $50.

Once I got it back to the workshop....

Straight out of the box, you'll find that the fence is stored under the table, up-side down, and has to be unlocked and flipped over and clipped to the appropriate part of the rails (which depends on your ripping width). The included push stick is clipped in a spot that ensures nothing sticks out while in the packed state, so it packs down very nicely.

I was cautious and checked everything mentioned in the manual before using. I didn't find it too hard to get the general ideas, but I imagine that someone new to a tablesaw, may find the manual a bit unclear.

I checked the alignment of the blade and riving knife, the tightness of the bolts for the blade, which I took off, then re-attached using the included blade spanners (yes they do work, unsurprisingly). Then I checked the measurements on the fence indicator (not always accurate on some table saws) but mine was within correct to 1/10th of a millimetre, judging by my caliper. Even the mitre indicator pin was very accurate (I was surprised since these can move while in transit).

Ultimately, everything was fine, but I don't consider checking it all as a waste of time. If there was a problem, I'd have wasted far more time fixing my mistakes caused by an improperly calibrated saw.

The packaged blade:

This table saw comes with a combination (some call it a hybrid, or compromise) style blade with 24 teeth. Meaning that it's ok (but not great) for ripping and cross-cutting, but if you want a silky smooth cut, you should considered getting some specialist blades for whichever cut(s) you do most often. Because the blade is DeWalt branded (and painted yellow), it can leave yellow paint on your cut timber, but this is easily sanded off. However, it has lasted longer than I anticipated, so it's quality certainly not bad.

The Stand:

The stand has only one (seemingly low) height by itself, but when the saw is placed on top, the height is ok for most people... but if you're particularly short or tall.. you may have issues. (I find that since I'm over six feet tall, I find a slightly wider stance helps to avoid hunching over). In terms of the stand's construction, it is pretty rigid, and I've put a 75Kg sleeper through this saw+stand combination without issue. However, like all portable stands, I'd restrict the sideways movement as much as possible for a consistent cut in large pieces of timber. When I'm dealing with sleepers, I place the saw against a plank on saw horses to extend the surface behind the saw, and that plank braces the entire setup against the wall. In short, the stand can handle a lot, but I err on the side of caution.

The Fence:

Ok, I really love the rack and pinion controlled fence for it's smooth operation and the fact that it moves the front and back equally. The fence lock is underneath the table surface on the front-right hand side (so if you're left-handed, it may be inconvenient), but it locks the fence well and with little drift.

I also like the shop vac/dust extractor ports (there's two, one above the table on the safety guard when it's attached, and the other below the table). They work very well and get most of the sawdust.

The cons:

After a few months of regular usage, I have a hard time faulting this saw for any functional reason. However, I've managed to scratch away some of the table surface coating, and frankly, I don't understand why they didn't just leave it as bare aluminium. Does this affect the function of the device? If it does, I honestly haven't noticed.

In fairness, I've done some serious ripping of jarrah and ironbark sleepers (at 75mm thick, that's pretty much the depth limit of this saw) and when I take the 2.4m rip patiently enough (yes, I go slowly, and work in successively deeper cuts on the really hard woods), it works well. There's really nothing to complain about since I'm taking the saw to the limit of it's capability, and it doesn't surprise me that an ironbark sleeper scratches the surface. As a side note, the supplied blade is starting to show signs of wear/dulling, but this is expected, and I'd always recommend you get some good specialist blades and only use sharp blades anyway.

If I had to complain about anything else, it's louder than I expect, and scares off the domestic pets efficiently enough. Whether this is a benefit, I leave to your judgement :-)

In conclusion:

Yes, there are cheaper brands and models, and your goals and normal usage of a table saw may differ wildly from mine. For me, it came down to this model and a Bosch. This one won due to the versatility in ripping width and discount with stand.

If you need to go much heavier duty than this, then you should probably consider going to a non-portable table saw. However, this saw will be more than adequate for most DIY-ers, and even professionals, providing they use the saw with caution and intelligence.

I hope this helps!