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I considered mirka. Reviews I’ve seen don’t show that big a difference and the hose / plug all in one connection for convenience etc are definitely big considerations.
Coming from an old dewalt, I’m expecting a massive difference in dust collection and speed.
Soul-
hose / plug all in one connection for convenience etc are definitely big considerations.
We look at these things differently to mean that just screams more to go wrong (bent pins, hose / cable clips breaking etc).
Coming from an old dewalt, I’m expecting a massive difference in dust collection and speed.
I don't know how old your DeWalt is but in my experience both speed and dust collection are more dependent on the choice of abrasive and how it's attached than the unit. The unit will have a MASSIVE effect of the standard of finish you achieve though. I always use a pad saver as replacing pads is stupidly expensive (had this conversation with @Airhead not long ago) but this does slow things down slightly as the disc isn't as firmly attached to the pad.
I also find when I'm using my Makita in the workshop that dust is still a problem.
It's always attached to my m-class extractor and the work piece is on a downdraught table powered by a large high volume 2 stage extraction system but when I've had the air quality monitors running it still says I need a respirator. Extraction on sanders has improved massively and is great for picking up mess but it's the ultra-fine airborne particles that sanding produces masses of that will give you cancer/COPD which dust extraction isn't as good at capturing.
Bobbo
I know you've already bought into festool but if I were to buy a premium sander it would be a mirka one. Despite festool making their name with Sanders they can't hold a candle to the mirka ones.