This is great for fixing up someone elses sloppy work. Often in old basement slabs you have few options for surface prep. The first is to re-pour the slab, which reduces ceiling height, costs additional materials, curing time, and you might not get good adherence if the existing floor is dirty. Your second option is hand grinding some areas and hand leveling with a trowel. This might be sufficient for a low grade finish but if you want to put down level oak or tile you need to have a very skilled touch and you may still require significant amounts of fill. Your third option, if you want a level surface quickly, is this tool, which can be used effortlessly by even an unskilled do-it-yourselfer, and takes all the guess work out for a skilled contractor and speeds the whole process up. This tool will pay for itself on its first job in time and concrete. The dust collector works very well. It is great to have when you have a high grade finish on the main floor, or an expensive furnace or other things you don't want to worry about sealing or covering. Granted some dust escapes, but not much. It works, and it's awsome. There isn't much more to be said. The load protection works by shutting the tool off if it gets bound up, which saves the motor from overheating or burn-out. The brushes are replaceable cheaply. All parts are available for makita tools. For a specialized tool like this it's good to know if something wears out you can just replace a $10 part instead of the whole $650 tool.