No swirls, no gouges, no stress: What a terrific little sander this is! It handles much more smoothly than other orbitals we’ve test-driven, perhaps because of what DeWalt calls its controlled finishing system that maintains pad speed and minimizes gouging at the start. It’s perfectly balanced, lightweight and comfortable to use, and though the cap is hard plastic rather than rubber, vibration isn’t a problem. It uses readily available 5-inch, eight-hole hook and loop paper that goes on and off in a second. If we had to identify a flaw, we’d say the dust bag doesn’t capture every last speck—-but then again, have you seen an orbital that does? It’s the nature of the beast. Still, when we attached a shop vacuum to the dust chute, we got great, clean results. The woodworker, home do-it-yourselfer and the contractor would all be pleased with this little guy.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste