I just received my Wood Magazine today and they reviewed Trim Routers in this issue. The top rated router was the Bosch Colt. For power adjustability it excelled in all but one category... bit visibility which it scored a B. Many others excelled in this area but were rated worse in other categories. Something that suprised me is that the PC 310 did not get a very good rating. This router has been a favorite of professionals for many years. I think it's size, feel and power has always made this a favorite however in the testing the collet and bit changing weighed heavy on their decision. It has always been a pain to get bits out of this router. Top Value went to the Grizzly H7791 at 41.00. The down side of this one is a lack of or limited fine adjustment. The Grizzly, Makita, MLCS MArvel 40, Ridgid , Ryobi all did well in the test but the Bosch Colt came out on top but it is not a 50. - 75. router either. The Freud, PC 7310 and Ridgid were all reviewed as taller and harder to keep a good balance and more top heavy, but this is a personal preference.
One thing that the review pointed out on the Bosch is something that Pat Warner mentioned in his review of the machine and that is spending the extra money to get the Variable Speed unit. There test showed that there just wasnt any advantage for the size of bits that these machines will use in having variable speed. Basically if the VS is needed then you are using too big of a bit in the machine. So if anyone is interested in this unit save the extra 20-25.oo and get the non VS machine.
There are a lot of good trim routers out there now and I suggest you look at Trim Routers just like any other router, it's best to try them out for fit and feel and get the one that feels the best to you and then go from there with the features that are important to you and arrive at your decision.
Corey
