DEWALT DWS780 12-Inch Double Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw w/ DWX723 Heavy Duty Miter Saw Stand.

Why it's worth it

A 12-inch dual-bevel slider with a shadow-line cut indicator instead of a laser, bundled here with DEWALT's universal rolling stand. It crosscuts a 2x16 flat and handles crown up to 6-5/8 inches nested, which covers essentially every job a home shop throws at it.

The cut-line system alone justifies the pick. Instead of a laser, DEWALT's XPS setup shines an LED past the blade so the blade itself casts a shadow on your pencil mark. There's nothing to calibrate, and it can't drift as the tool warms up. Popular Mechanics estimated that shadow-line indicators cut blade-positioning error by around 40% versus traditional lasers. In practice that means you line up the shadow to the waste side of your line and cut.

Capacity is where the 12-inch blade earns its keep. The 15-amp motor spins at 3,800 rpm, and the saw handles 16 inches of horizontal cut and 6-3/4 inches vertically. That's a 2x16 crosscut in one pass and tall baseboard standing against the fence. If you're building bookcases from wide boards or cutting deck framing, this is the difference between one clean pass and flipping stock halfway through.

From our review of 7 miter saws for woodworking and home shops, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +The cut-line system alone justifies the pick
• +Capacity is where the 12-inch blade earns its keep
• +Repeatability matters more than raw power for trim work, and this is where the DWS780 has built its reputation
• +The bundle includes DEWALT's DWX723 stand, which is worth having

What to know

• –DEWALT says the dust system captures over 75% of what the blade throws, which is honest for the category and still means a real…
• –This is a rear-rail slider, so it needs clearance behind it to travel