I've been following this thread with interest, especially in the last few days since my router died after less than an hour of use. The store where I purchased the router was initially less than cordial with my dilemma until the tool manager and store manager deceided on some accomodation.
Long story short., I got my money back and purchased a Sears Router very very similiar to the one by another brand.
I notice some talk about Horse Power Ratings, comparisons of routers by HP.
Well, in the real world manufactures have pretty well stuck to HP as an indication to the consumer for comparison. ALL THE POPULAR routers are rated at PEAK NO LOAD.
This means that the router power calculation is at 100 percent efficiency under no laod.
The best indication of the true HP is to consider the voltage times the amps = watts.
The more watts - the more power (remember the light bulb?)
Horse power is calculated by dividing the wattage by 746. (no load condition).
Since there might be about a 30% reduction in HP due to load and heat generated by the machiine - you might find that a router rated at 2 HP in the real world is 1.542hp at 115 volts ac drawing 10 amps (at 100% efficiency). Under load -at 70% efficiency (typically) the HP rating is now 1.079 HP.
So, the good news is this - if you are happy with your 2.25 Router, it's a 2.25 HP router. If not - try a 3 or 4 hp router. The more amps = more watts = more HP
Look for the current rating and voltage, (one company uses 120 VAC vs 115 VAC).
.
Nothing too unusual about this. My household is 120 VAC - what's yours?
All the best
cfm