Decent palm finishing sander

The paper clamping system does work well as mentioned by other reviewers. It is the stand-out feature of this product. One aspect of the tool that I do not like is the rigid plastic filter cannister. It gets in the way when sanding recessed panels on doors and cabinets. This is not a problem with a Makita palm sander, where the bag is fabric with a flexible plastic interior frame. The dust bag on the Makita is also fairly short and angled up higher. The plastic dust cannister on this tool is attached with flexible plastic clips that do no engage the body of the sander very well and they seem like they would break off rather easily. The punch plate rips holes in the sandpaper rather than punching them, because plastic spikes of the punch plate are too flat. Noise and vibration are low, and dust collection seems to work ok.

Fine finish sander...

I like this Bosch finish sander. At 12,000 OPM, it is less powerful than Dewalt and Mikita but that's not as important to me as Bosch's innovative sanding sheet clamping system and dust collection system. I use this machine as intended... between finish coats on a woodworking project. I have a belt sander, orbital sander and Fein detail sander to take down raw stock when necessary. A finish sander does not need to be particularly 'aggressive'.^M
^M
As usual, fit and finish are superb on Bosch tools. I have owned several 1/4 sheet sanders and this one outclasses the others. Not a fan of 1/2 sheet sanders, I like the 'feel and control' aspect of using a 1/4 sheet palm sander with the work surface right under my hand. I do notice that the dust collector works better on the Bosch than on any of the other sanders I've have owned but, face it, a quantity of 'free-flying' dust is a given with any sander. The dust canister is secured to the unit's exhaust port with a nice set of 'push' tabs which lock it securely. Other mfg's would do well to come up with a similar system. It is my biggest complaint with other sanders... dust bags 'vibrating' off the exhaust port. I do blow out the sander with compressed air after each day's use and wipe it down, and don't forget the paper filter on the dust collector cover... you know... take care of your tools and they won't let you down.^M
^M
Bosch, Mikita and DeWalt 1/4 sheet sanders are all around the same price, so it really gets down to features and personal preference. As stated above, the Bosch has some nice features that I felt set it somewhat apart from the others and I have not been disappointed. The unit also comes with a canvas 'gym-bag style' tote. Plenty of room to store pre-cut sanding sheets. Poly, form-fitted, storage cases may make storage in the shop/garage easier but severly limit storing 'extras' with the tool. I miss the roomy metal boxes of days gone bye!

Very poor dust collection.

A great little sander if you had a downdraft table. The dust collection did not pull anything through to the bag. I attached a shop vac using the adapter (sold seperately) and same difference. Sanded one small cabinet door and this beast threw dust all over the place. The sandpaper "punch" is a real piece of crap.