I’ve joined the festool band wagon and have invested thousands into their tools.

As time has gone by, I see some people saying the surf prep is better overall than festool sanders

Which do you have S P or F and what is your opinion which is better and why for-

1. Avoiding swirls “C’s”
2. Sanding brand new or sanding after stripping a piece
3. Detail sanding
4. Dust collection

Etc

I don’t care about the cost, but which do you like better, model numbers and why?

Also, can I use a surf prep with my F dust extraction?

Ty

As someone who invested lots of money on festool, I will say if you bank account is healthy then go for festool
I'm myself done with them and their price hike every years
I sold most of my festools
Their price not only goes up with the tools but everything else!
I used to have a dts400 and got tired of buying new pads
I have a surfprep and like it very much
And yes it does work with the festool vacs

Festool makes some very good tools. They don't make the best of every tool. There seems to be a group of people who like the matching boxes and the higher prices. It makes them feel better in some way I just don't understand. Even if I had an unlimited budget, I would still buy various power tools made by other manufacturers, because they are superior.

We've used the Mirka sanders for many years. I prefer them to the Festool. We wore out a couple of the Festool sanders 10 years ago. I have a Bosch RO sander that's 20 years old that will not die. It's done real work not fluffy cabinet shop stuff. Not as accurate as the Festool, but it destroys them on durability.

Mirka is the way to go.

I don't understand the use of electric sanders. To me, air makes much more sense. I use Dynabrade 6", 8" and 12" (never figured out why most use a 5") Pads are a wear item, I keep new ones in back up. I have one Festool sander, it's still in the box (saw it just the other day) Doesn't answer your question though.

Air sanders are expensive to operate. That's why so many have switched to brushless.

I haven't used a air sander that performs as well the Mirka sanders either.

With that said, I need to get a couple more dynabrades in the shop. There's some things they are just better at.

As far as Festool sanders go, I haven't used one that blew me away. Good, but not incredible. I believe Airvantage makes the 3M, Surfprep, and Mirka sanders. Plus they sell insert their own brand. The Mirka has better features from the Airvantage I have.

We are all Festool now. I should say that I am against Festool on most tools. Their Domino, Track Saw and now sanders are all we have.
We used to be all Dynabrades. Air is expensive, but mostly I like the better dust collection you get with electrics and a dedicated, actuated vacuum.
The ETS REQ series of fine sanders work for us instead of the more aggressive versions. We have a 2 head widebelt that we keep tuned and use properly, so we don't need to grind away belt marks. My finisher is hyper-tuned to sanding marks and this system has been the best we've tried.
We had one of the Surfprep electric version that is the same look as the Deros. It died 2 days after the warranty ended.

I'm another vote for mirka. I've owned or demo'd most of the big brands and mirka was the best fit for my shop.