Used my new 1274DVS for the first time today, and I have to say, I am
impressed with this little machine. Lightweight, easy to handle and control,
and it kicks ass. It definitely will remove material quickly. On the first
surface I sanded, I thought I had 45 mins worth of sanding in front of me
and this thing did the job in 10. Of course, I came from using boodley-ass
old tools that you had to practically stand on to get anything done, so this
venture into the modern world of woodworking technology has me pretty
wide-eyed and gawking, like a hick seeing his first skyscraper.

The controls are simple and easy to understand, and the tracking adjustment
knob was simple and effective. I set the position of the belt and it hasn't
moved a millimeter. I wound up using the machine for about two hours. I even
tried some vertical sanding and it was a little trickier, but not bad.
Removing the front handle was accomplished in seconds, as was replacing it.
The manual said to remove the handle for front-end flush sanding and it got
pretty close to the perpendicular edge at the end of the flat surface I was
working on, within 1.5 inches. It worked great on flush sanding on the side.
I was able to butt the belt right up to that perpendicular edge. The unit
made some noise, but not as bad as I expected or am used to. The dust bag
didn't get in the way, as I thought it might, and it actually worked pretty
well, leaving just a slight layer of dust on the workpiece that would come
away on your fingers. Seemed pretty darn clean to me, at least there wasn't
much on the rag I wiped the wood down with.

Oh yeah, I liked the variable speed trigger, too. Easy to hold at a constant
speed.

If I come up with anything else worth reporting about this sander, I'll keep
you all posted.

Tony