In a previous post I mentioned my pursuit of a Laguna TS, if I could massage the price down a bit. Well, that attempt hasn't been very successful, and while I'm still tempted to pony up the couple hundred more than I planned to pay, the hyper-aggressive salesmen are frankly starting to get irksome.

Which brings me to Powermatic. Several of you fine gents mentioned the new PM2000 in response to my earlier query. I've checked it out, and it looks outstanding (not sure if anyone here's got one yet who'd like to chime in with first-hand experience). I'm particularly keen on the riving knife, though the retractable mobile base seems pretty sweet too, insofar as you can put the saw right down on the solid ground- seems like it's bound to reduce vibration.

I was about to scrap the Laguna project entirely and place my order for the PM2000- which I can currently order with the 50" Accufence for $2000 (free shipping). When...

Amazon posted a deal where I can order the X5 3hp/50" Bis. fence and get a free Jet 1.5 hp dust collector free (no free shipping)...for a grand total of $2,000.

So I'm pondering: what's more valuable in the long run? Riving knife/sweet retractable roller base, or a ($500 list) dust collector (which I'll have to purchase eventually if I don't get it now, as I currently am stuck using a shop vac...like I said, I'm starting out...).

Thoughts from those more experienced than myself? I'll admit I'm leaning to the powermatic and just eating the cost of a new DC in a few months, but I'll take the wisdom of years on tap here!