This is an amazing tool. On the surface it seems a little gimmicky, but it's awesome. I bought it thinking it's biggest claim to fame would be fairly dust free cuts into drywall with dust extraction, and also cutting to a specific depth. But it that isn't the half of it. It cuts super thin cuts, so thin that you have to work the piece you cut out around a bit to get it back in again. You can cut a piece out and put it back in and there is virtually no seam. Clean up the paper a little and mud, no tape needed, the screws are a bigger problem than the seams. I also thought the vacuum was going to be an import part of dust free operation, nope, pretty minimal drywall dust with no vacuum attached, and the cut is so thin the little bin it has takes surprisingly long to fill up. Is it expensive for a one trick pony, yea kinda, but it really does that trick well.

I put off getting this for over a year. First I own DeWalt tools and it is sold as a tool only. So the cost is very high for one tool. You've now got to go out and buy a charger and battery. That said, I'm remodeling my house. I needed to put in a lot of sockets in each room. So I cut a line below the baseboard in all the rooms. First this tool is so quiet. It cuts a 1/16" line and its perfect. No dust, cuts just through the drywall and the backer paper and you are done. I cut a 19 foot strip in my living room that took 1 minute 50 seconds. No mess. When I was done, I just attach my vacuum to the tool and vacuum out the dust. For me having the vacuum attached the entire time would be more of a pain. So I'm finding lots of project for this tool. If you are a handyman or contractor, well this is a quick way to cut into someones wall without all the mess. What I'm doing now, had I had to use a recipricating saw and cut all of this, it would have been a great deal harder. Messy, unwanted drywall damage, possible severed wires behind the drywall and broken bits of drywall. The battery and charger can be found for 1/2 the price if you search around. I'm glad I bought this, it was well worth the money.

Makes a precise depth cut into drywall. Contains dust well even without any bag or vacuum. Operates like a jigsaw. If you are doing a lot of fishing wires or installing outlets or wood backing I can highly recommend this tool. One small negative is that you can only go about 1-1/2 to 2" close up to. Just like with a jigsaw or circular saw the base plate hits the wall before the blade. Thus you would have to finish the cut with a multitool or by hand.

After tearing apart my basement I discovered my biggest complaint with remodeling and doing dry wall is the dust!

I began my search for an easy method of cutting existing drywall with a dust collector and came across the Makita XDS201Z. I was skeptical at first, but always spending more time than I care to admit researching, I decided to pull the trigger.

The saw is comfortable in hand, and smaller than I expected. Build quality is very high with my only complaint being that the blade guard fits a bit loose on its holster.

I added a small amount of felt around the open edges of the dust bin and mated the saw to my shopvac. I was shocked after making my first cuts. Nothing! No visible dust!

Cutting performance is good with the included blade. And if you set the blade depth correctly, you don't have to worry about what's behind the drywall. It will just barely cut the paper backing so it won't mar studs or cut any wiring or plumbing. It already saved my bacon as one of the walls I was opening up had an unknown electrical line behind one of the walls I was working on. The blade will easily cut through metal corner reinforcement as well.

In Summary, I strongly recommend this if you are working in areas that people still need to live and work, have an aversion to drywall dust, or just like keeping your work area as clean as possible.

AND

This saw is MADE IN JAPAN.

PS: Vacuum connection is 1-1/4" in diameter.

A very well designed and manufactured tool for cutting holes/openings in drywall or quickly removing a lot of drywall without making a huge mess. The adjustable depth of cut is invaluable -- no more worrying about pipes or electrical wiring within the wall. I initially thought that centering the blade in the base was a disadvantage -- the blade is 1.5" from the edge of the base -- exactly the thickness of a 2x4. But after removing a lot of drywall, I've realized the blade location is just where I want it -- just inside all the nails/screws along the wall edges. You have to deal with the 1.5" border by hand, but you have to do that anyway.

With blade depth set appropriately, the rate of cutting is excellent. Dust collection is outstanding (when connected to a shop-vac). I'm using the Makita 192108-A 10-ft hose to connect to my shop vac hose). I could wish for better blade visibility when cutting but that would diminish dust collection; as it is, the blade position is well-marked on the front/sides of the base. The built-in light is very good. The hand grip is very positive and flexible -- depending on the direction you're cutting, sometimes it's easier to activate the trigger with your little finger instead of your index finger. The blade will cut through nails/screws, but it's faster to backup slightly and ease around them. All in all, it's a great specialty tool.