I use palm sanders quite often at work for finishing. Compared to the Dewalt orbital palm sanders, the Milwaukee sander is a pleasure to use. It runs smoothly, has a stronger motor, and is well solidly constructed. I can feel quite a difference in vibration between the DeWalt and this one... after a half hour of using the Dewalt, I end up with tingly hands. This does not occur with the Milwaukee. Milwaukee's paper holding latches hold the paper securely, and never allows movement (again, can't say the same for the Dewalt). Top-notch unit all-around.

I bought this to replace my 15-year-old Porter-Cable 1/4-sheet palm sander, which lacked a dust bag.
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br /What a letdown. I love my other Milwaukee tools (cordless and corded drills and Sawzall) but this tool is junk. It vibrates so badly that it skips across the surface of the wood. The clamp levers are so weak that one of them bent the first time I used it. And the pad is so flimsy that it was damaged in two places after a half hour of use. The P-C never suffered any such problems.
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br /I've been working wood for over 40 years and have never used such a bummer of a power tool. I think I'll stick with my P-C.

I am a painting and remodeling contractor- 23 years in business. I have used the (former) Milwaukee palm sander on the job almost everyday for many years. Its motor was very good and it always had enough power to do the job quickly and efficiently- no problems. I've only replaced the power cord, main switch and sanding pad several times over the years- the brushes once etc. But recently I needed another one on hand to use because my old one needed to go to the shop for another power cord and pad again. So I bought what Milwaukee is now putting out now as the SAME palm sander...identical housing/box etc. BIG MISTAKE! All the specs on the metal label are the same but it is NOT THE SAME SANDER. The motor has been replaced with a much cheaper one- and this new one vibrates much more and makes very much noise- compared to the old one! Worse than that it just doesn't sand anywhere near as well or as fast as its predecessor either! My old one sanded things very quickly etc.(One way to tell is just how fast it will wear out your piece of sandpaper- with this new one I simply cannot wear out a piece of 36 grit sandpaper!!) Upon further comparison with my old one, I noticed the orbital rotations of the new one are much smaller than the old one too, which is probably why it doesn't sand very good!
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br /So take it from me, someone who knows...this new Milwaukee palm sander is now nothing more than another glorified vibrating sander! Don't buy it- It's a piece of JUNK!

I ordered a Milwaukee sander to test the brand's integrity. The unit was dead right out of the box. No power; dead circuit in the sander? The craftsmanship was poor, with too much plastic and stiff and awkward paper attachment levers. Very disappointing. No more Milwaukee for me.