If we had to choose a favorite aspect, it would have to be the handle. It’s vertical. It’s horizontal. And it’s a couple of other things in between. It locks quickly and easily into any of four positions, so both lefties and righties have complete comfort and control.

This saw is beefy -- it weighs in at 55 pounds and it’s got a nice, wide footprint that promises the ultimate stability, and sliding extensions bring your support area to 37-1/4 inches. If you’re in the market for a stand for this saw as well, we like both the Bosch TracRac as well as the DeWalt DW723.

The dual bevel is a great feature, swinging 47 degrees left and 46 degrees right, with positive bevel stops at 31.6 and 33.9 degrees for flawless crown molding cuts. For miter cuts, the blade swings an impressive 52 degrees left and 60 degrees to the right. There’s even a micro-fine adjustment here, letting you override a detent by as much as 2 degrees. Now that’s precision.

We absolutely love the fence on this saw – Bosch calls it a Speed-track sliding fence – because it’s a full 4 inches tall and has a beautifully readable inch-scale on it. It’s perfect for crown molding, handling pieces up to 6 inches wide when angled against the fence.

We’re suddenly rethinking our earlier statement about our favorite feature on this saw; on second thought, it might well be that all the controls – including the bevel lever – are up front. We’re pretty tired of reaching around a saw body to set a bevel, so this is a most welcome upgrade. Adjustments are so much faster and easier, and all the scales are right up front, too.

Capacities are generous, thanks to the slide, with a max cut of a 2-by-12 at a 45-degree bevel and 3-5/8 by 12 inches when the blade is upright.

And yes, this saw has a laser cutting guide, but unless you really want one, we wouldn’t let that sway a decision on this saw one way or the other. It’s a nice feature if you’re likely to use it, but most of us woodworkers prefer to get a visual on exactly where that blade meets the wood.

In all, this is a beauty of a saw, with features you aren’t going to find on other saws in its class. And we still can’t pick our favorite between the handle and the up-front controls. It’s all good. -- Kris Jensen-Van Heste

Customer Reviews Average rating - 4.5

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-10-12
Content: This saw meets or exceeds my expectations, in every way but one. The vacuum dust extraction does little or no good, so I just leave the dust collection bag in place.
Summary: Bosch compound miter saw review

Rating - 4 Date: 2008-09-16
Content: I'm not a master carpenter or a finish carpenter. If I were, I'd likely buy the Festool miter saw but for the $, this saw has been better than I expected. The only downer is the dust collection. It really is as bad as everyone said it was. So, if you're going to use this saw inside a house, you'll regret it. It took me about 1/2 hour to verify the saw was square and make one slight adjustment. Great saw!
Summary: Great saw!

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-09-15
Content: This saw did everything it promised. A solid piece of equipment. I did crown mouldings with this and had excellent results. Great accuracy. I highly recommend this saw.
Summary: Amazing

Rating - 4 Date: 2008-08-04
Content: This is the nicest saw I have used yet, I really think if they got the dust bag to do a better job than nothing at all that this could be the best saw yet. If you plan to use it inside a home you might want to close off the door ways because the bag doesn't work if you are using t outside and it doesn't matter about the dust it is great. I am still glad I purchased the saw but I wish they would fix the bag system. I would refer this saw over the other ones out there.
Summary: Great saw bad dust bag

Rating - 3 Date: 2008-07-04
Content: Reading all these five star reviews makes me jealous. I'm a professional carpenter and there's a lot I love about this saw: the upfront controls, the table extensions that are perfecly in plane with the table, the tall sliding fences, the smooth, quiet motor... I'll never be totally happy with a saw that doesn't have those features. But I'm sure not happy with mine. It has the dreaded wavy cut syndrome. It's not caused by sloppy sliders as some reviewers have speculated. The problem is when the plane of the blade is not perfecly in line with the direction of the slide. Everything on the saw can be adjusted except that. If you get one do some test cuts on some wide stock right away. Chop it close in, then fully extended. Do you see a sawtooth in your cut? When you slide cut do you get any burn marks on the sides of the cut or a wavy cut? I did, and I took mine to a factory service center. They said the put a lot of new parts in it and checked it out but guess what. It still won't cut right. If you get a good one you'll love it, if you don't, send it back!
Summary: Are you feeling lucky?