I bought the Ridgid jointer about a year ago and have been very happy
with it. I believe I used a 10% off coupon so I got it for a little
less than the $349 and put it on my HD credit card so no payments and
no interest for 6 months. I bought an HTC mobile base for it from
Amazon. It is my first jointer so I don't have anything to compare it
to but it has done everything I've asked of it. What a pleasure to have
tight joints when gluing up panels. I also bought the Ridgid 3650 table
saw about six months ago and have been happy with it also. I also own
tools by Delta, Ryobi, Porter Cable, Hitachi, etc. I usually search
this NG for opinions, read magazines reviews and check out the tool in
person if at all possible before buying.