Let me make my advice clearer. On the cheap end of the scael one of the price breaks is whether it is equipped with a blade brake or not. SPend the few extra bucks and get it. If you buy a nice saw, it will already have a blade brake.

Mike: are you cutting boards that you can bring to the saw? If so, I strongly recommend a miter saw over a circular saw. I have this model and have been very happy with it:

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW703-H...4307209&sr=8-1

I have done a fair amount of finish work with it and I figure it paid for itself in short order.

I like DeWalt and Bosch. I have a cordless DeWalt and used a corded Skil Saw for sometime. I had a dual bevel 12" compound miter saw by Bosch I just sold. Great saw if you go the miter route. It had laser tracking too. I just wish it had a slide.

I also have a cordless Craftsman combo kit that had a circular saw in it. It works for simple stuff like cutting a few 2x4's but I wouldn't trust it on much else.

I'd probably stick with something corded if I were you. Again, Bosch and DeWalt are nice, though I like Milwaukee and Hitachi quite a bit too. Can't go wrong with any of those in my opinion.

Good point. Cutting 2x4's with a circular saw is kind of a pain.

This is why I asked what you wanted it for. If you are doing finihs work you absolutely shoudl get something like Lebowski is suggesting, along with a finish blade. Circular saws don't do finish work very easily and unless you are good with it not well at all.