Before you can decide whether the Bosch 4100 – or any table saw – is right for you, you need to answer several questions first. What is your budget? How skillful a woodworker are you? What will you use the saw for? Light hobby woodworking? Professional job site work? Will you be cutting large or oversize stock? Which saw will provide you years of use, rather than being "outgrown" as your skills increase? The answers to these questions will determine which saw you should purchase.

What do you get for your money with the Bosch?

• 15 amp, 4 HP motor with quiet "soft start" and Constant Response for constant speed under load

• 25 inches of rip capacity

• Square Lock rip fence

• Smart Guard modular safety system with built-in riving knife, blade guard, and anti-kickback pawls

• T-slot miter gauge

• Gravity rise stand for easy setup and portability

• one-year limited warranty, 30-day money back guarantee, and one-year service protection plan

Power is important, and this saw has plenty of power to easily cut through 2" stock. The soft start gets the blade up to speed without a lot of extra noise and a big bang. The Constant Response does a very nice job of keeping the blade speed constant when under load.

The fence is well designed, easy to use, and remains true once setup. The miter gauge, however, gets mixed reviews from users. It is generally adequate for the task at hand, but some users have replaced it with a third party gauge.

If you plan to use the Bosch 4100-09 on a job site, the stand is sturdy, easy to setup and take down, and the wheels make it easy to move over the rough ground found at many sites. If you are a week-end hobbyist, the stand makes it a snap to setup the saw for week-end work and then move it out of the way when your woodworking chores are over and you need to move the car back into the garage.

The biggest plus for a saw of this size is its safety system. The guards and riving knives of many smaller table saws are difficult to use. On top of that some guards obscure the cut. These lead many users to simply remove the guards. This is not a good idea and is in fact a recipe for a bad accident. The Bosch system is easy to use, requiring no tools, the components snapping on and off. The blade guard has a split guard feature, allowing the user to easily see the cut.

This saw cuts accurately and is easy to setup. It has great safety features. In fact many users have found the Bosch 4100 to be the equal of contractor saws and nearly as good as full size table saws, but at a fraction of the price. It can handle virtually all table saw tasks and be stored in a small area when space is tight.

When you decide what your needs and desires are in a table saw, the Bosch 4100 will probably be on your short list. It is an excellent portable table saw for the money.