John in NM
Had an 8" contractors saw before that. If there had been a used heavy contractors saw available I would have bought it instead if it were cheaper. At the time and place it was buy new or grab what came up when you had the money. Couldn't have bought a new contractors saw for the cost of the cabinet saw, so it was an easy decision.

Festool stuff is a whole different ball of wax. Most people won't actually "need" such things, but they are an absolute pleasure to use and those that I've used did a far better job than other versions of the same tool. Was it 2x or 3x better to go with the price tag? No, probably not. But then is driving a luxury car 3x or 10x a better experience than my crummy economy cars? Definitely not. The curve of price vs. quality is never linear. Some find the luxury stuff worth paying for, some do not. I'm grateful that some do like luxury stuff - it means I occasionally sell some woodwork

Why sweat it anyway?