Bob wrote:
I have a few jobs that I think the PMF180 and its ilk might be ideal
for. The main immediate one is to allow me to lift some sections of
floorboard in awkward locations and with minimal damage. In
particular I am hoping that the plunge blade would allow a neat cut
across the width of the floorboard as well as dealing with the
tongues.

It does.

I can't really answer the latter part of this, but it's worked well for me to
do just that.

It is not fast.
It's moderately noisy.
The blades last reasonably well.