On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:03:22 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

snip
I think the ROS has become more popular than the standby palm sander. My palm
sander has a longer cord than my ROS--that may not be deciding factor,
but there have been times that I do appreciate the convenience.

that might depend on where you live....

when my old ROS died about 5 years ago, I was looking for a new one...
it was about the time that all the finishing sanders with round and
triangle heads appeared...
Not only did I have a hard time finding much of a selection in local
stores, but most people were surprised that I WANTED a ROS, with all
the other types available...

To me, the ROS fills the gap between the belt/disk sander and the palm
sander..

IMHO, using one type (ROS/palm/finishing) of sander to do everything
is like using an 1/8" router blade to rip boards.... you need to give
up the "crutch" of overusing a favorite tool (or software *g*) and
decide if it's really the best tool for the job at hand..