Thanks to Leon and others in this newsgroup, I learned a lot about sanders.
I decided my first investment in an electric sander would be a porter cable
speedbloc. It came last week and I used it all weekend. If a belt sander
is the woodbutcher's hatchet, than this sander must be his scalpel.
Everything you guys said about lack of vibration and fine control is true.
My projects are going to be a little bit more polished from now on. Yeah,
I'll buy an ROS for other sanding work someday, but I'm glad I started here.

Bob Davis
Houston, Texas