Herb Robinson wrote:

I too believe Craftsman tools often get an unfair knock. My first table
saw was a Craftsman and it served me well for many years as I was learning
my woodworking skills -- particularly after I added a Biesemeyer home shop
fence to it. I believe if you start out with these moderately priced
tools, once you are ready to upgrade, you have a much better idea of what
you want/need.

I have used crapsman tools for a few years but after replacing the first one
with a real tool I was then kind of mad at myself for wasting the money on
the craftsman when I could have spent a bit more on better tools and saved
a few pieces of wood and some frustration when the tools didn't perform as
well as they should.
In the short term the cheaper craftsman tools look like a good deal but
looking at the long term, I've had to replace each one so I'm out both the
money of the good tool and the money spent on the craftsman. The cost of a
couple craftsman tools that had to be replaced was enough to buy something
better in the first place.
Of course its not just craftsman, I have a worthless Black and Decker jigsaw
and threw away and old skil circular saw a few years ago because I bought
cheap. But I have learned that buying cheaper tools doesn't save any $
because you have to re-buy them again. I have bought my father three
different cordless drills over the last few years and still have and use
and abuse my 9.6V Makita from 1995. So when he needed another cordless
drill (4th one now) I picked up a Makita and now instead of buying a new
drill every couple years I buy him something else to go along with the one
he has because it actually lasts more than a couple years.
My point is if you don't start with the cheap stuff then you don't need to
upgrade as soon.