I have one, and it is as billed…the DC is very,very good. But I also have a Bosch 3725 that when hooked to a good vac seems to catch as much dust as the Festool. The Festool does have it's own hole layout and you probably can't drive to the home center and get discs for it. Personally, I won't buy another Festool sander…I think the Bosch is just as good. But that's just me.

 

I have the 150 ETS in both a 3mm and 5mm stroke. Both are excellent for dust collection. Their hole pattern is unique, ie. like Fred said, you can't just run out to the BORG and buy compatible discs.

 

I have an Festool ETS 3 that's 19 years. No regrets. I also have Bosch too. Both are good sander but I reach for festool almost 100% of the time.

 

I have the 5" that was on a sale for $99 a few years back and it is awesome. The sand papers are really good, or seem so since it pulls so much dust up. My wife helped me sand a desktop for her. She used my festool and I used my Ridgid 5 ". Pretty dramatic difference, almost no dust from the festool. As a understand it, air is blown out of the center hole to assist the dust going into the holes on the perimeter.

 

I find the hole pattern a non-issue. After accounting for longevity, Festool sanding discs are priced similar to other quality brands like Mirka. But lately I've switched to Abranet which works fine for any hole pattern. Just be sure to buy some cheap backer pads to avoid wearing out the sander velcro. The backer pads may need some extra holes punched but that's much less work than punching new holes in every sanding disc.

If you do a lot of heavy sanding, the Rotex is hard to beat.

I've never used the Bosch sanders but the older Porter Cable RO sanders only lasted 2-3 years in a professional shop. Our Rotex must be around 9 years old and other than replacing brushes and backer pads, it still works fine.

 

I think they're worth it although I haven't used the Bosch mentioned above so can't compare the two. The hole pattern isn't a problem since I stopped using my PC sander after getting the Festool. It's now a 'loaner tool.'

 

I use a 125ETS (5") w/ the their dust extractor.

The dust extraction is next to perfect on flat surfaces. The instant on/off is also a big plus.

The Granate sandpaper is too pricey for me. Industrial Abrasives carries paper that fits Festool. Hole pattern not an issue, in fact, I find it easier to line up paper than either of my other ROS's.

 

I found these and bought several grits. No complaints.

Https://2sand.com/rhynogrip-5-inch-festool-9-hole-velcro-sanding-discs-50-box#producttabsreview_tabbed

 

The Bosch M480 discs and a $69 big box store bosch sander work pretty well with an extractor. I tried out the Festool at my local hardware store, and it didn't work any better. I'm just a hobbyist, and can't say how long my sander will last, have had it maybe 5 years or so?

 

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. My wife loves the Festool sander and extrator combination (it was for her) And it didn't take much time to punch required holes in the disks on hand with a drill press. Works like a bandit.