Random Orbit Sanders - opinions?

I have the BOSCH Power Tools - GET75-6N and it is the best sander I have ever owned. The only festool purchase I have been able to justify is the Domino and it is well worth it.

$300 is still a lot for a sander, I will never get my moneys worth out of it but it does make sanding a lot faster.

3M Xtract Orbital Sander

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I do a decent amount of hobby and project sanding.

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I have an ROS festish and have tried almost everyone on the market over the last 15 years and there are three I own that are my absolute favorites. I have a picture of all of them but can't find it on the phone and it has fallen off my Imgur page but I will use stock pictures.

The Mirka Deros is my absolute favorite:



The Surfprep Electric Ray (I have the older version that looks similar but has an external power supply which is nice because the sander is lighter and I use the PS to power 3 other Surfprep sanders)

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The 3rd is the Festool EC150




What you will note about these is they all have a form factor similar to air sanders and the Mirka and SP have paddle switches. This is the tits for lots of sanding. The brushless (EC) motors make them light and powerful. If you are not hogging much wood and just doing surface prep and finish sanding I would not get a dual action like the Festool Rotex. I have the 75 and 150 and use the 75 a lot but it is a bit of a multi-tool but I rarely use the 150. It is too bulky for lots of finish sanding and I rarely find myself hogging a lot of wood.

If you really do a lot of sanding I suggest you consider one of the ones I mentioned despite the price (or the 3M which I have never owned but feel like it will fall into the EC 150 range in my preferences).

If you want to spend less then the Bosch GEX34-6N is probably the best at the next pricepoint down. Bosch had a great ROS but redesigned it about 10 years ago (can't recall the model) with the ROS65VS which like the GEX34 is a good sander but not as good as the previous one. The ROS20 is just a cheap sander.

If you do a lot of sanding the ergonomics of the high end ROS are worth if. The middle ground is the Bosch and the low end is 6 one half a dozen another. If you sand large panels the 6" will pay big dividends over the 5". I have several 5" sanders but I rarely run into a situation where I pick up a 5". Usually I can use a 6" and if not I generally need something smaller than a 5".