Guess it depends on the sale price.

The Craftsman 17543 is $99.99 if you're a Club member now through 4/3.

 

The 17543 does 1/4 and 1/2" and comes with a plunge and a fixed base. It also has LED's that illuminate your work. When it comes to good value, it's tough to beat!

 

I bought the HF router for a router table. It's okay for a table, but I wouldn't buy it for as a hand held router. It's heavy, and the switch is exposed. The first time I handled I accidentally turned it on by brushing the switch against my torso. That's inexcusable in my opinion. The plunge mechanism is also quite stiff. Check out the reconditioned Hitachi routers at Reconditioned Sales. They are really brand new, and the M12VC is $80. I love this router. I would have bought another one for my table, but I read a review that had a problem with it in a table.

 

Also note that the Harbor Freight router is NOT variable speed. The Hitachi router is.

 

How does that craftsman club discount thing work? I was on the site, but never saw anything about it. All I know about it is that it knocked a lot of money off of the table saw each time as my Wife joined. But She didn't explain anything about it.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. Last night I found a Dewalt DW625 like new for $150.00 shipped. Read a lot of good things about this one. Hopefully, it will be as described. I'll post once I get it. Thanks again.

 

I finally got some time to say I did get the DW625 about 3 weeks ago and I am impressed! It came with a 1/2" upcut spiral bit which I have used over a dozen times making jigs for my different tools.
The router is quite big but not clumsy and the plunge is s-o-o-o smooth compared to my Ryobi RE175.
I bought the DW6913 base and it really makes routing in t-tracks simple and precise.
Now I need to get some good 1/2" shank bits to go along with this and I can start making sawdust soon.