I LOVE IT. This saw is so awesome. I can not believe the difference between my 40-690 and the craftman 18 inch that I have. The wide base helps me control my cutting a whole lot better. It is so quiet, I can even hear myself think. One thing I do like about this saw is the upper arm rasies up so I can feed my blade in without bending every which way. The blade is out where I can see it and it helps me stay on the pattern line. Loading the blade was one of my concerns because of the small hole in the plate. Well, it is not as bad as I thought it would be. I also really like the way the top of the blade sets right in the lock and then you can control the tension of the blade. It also came with a stand and a light which is great. To rate this saw between 1 and 10 I would have to give it a 11. I would have to saw to anyone that is thinking of buying a new saw get the 40-690, it is just awesome.
Here is a picture of the saw.
gene