Black & Decker purchased Porter Cable?

[Jngrbrdman]

Maybe I am way far behind the times, but did you know that Porter Cable was basically bought by Black & Decker last year?The notice was made a year ago. (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NTF/is_5_12/ai_n6229871) I knew B&D owned DeWalt, but now it seems like they definitely have a corner on the market of polishers. Has anyone noticed any differences in the latest production models of the PC7424? I`m sure there isn`t anything they could do to make it worse short of using cheaper parts internally, but I`m curious to know if there were any visible differences. Maybe noise differences or anything. I`m not sure that Black & Decker would change anything in the polisher lineup with Porter Cable, but you never know.

[jpzapata]

yeah that is why you cant get PC in some home depots. They are waiting for the whole transition to close.

[Beemerboy]

GIGERBREAD

Most all the time in a buy out they never change the names.....Its bad marketing.....Plenty of people will swear by one brand over another when they are all made by the same mfger......You sited in another thread about clay coming from a select few mfgers, just sold under different names....I have a De Walt orbital and it looks just like the B&D orbital expect the color and that`s about it....PC has a great mane in the industry so they won`t change the name to many people following it.

[e-klasse]

Most all the time in a buy out they never change the names.....Its bad marketing.....Plenty of people will swear by one brand over another when they are all made by the same mfger......
That`s almost exactly what the press release said when the official announcement came last year. There was also talk of redundancy and incorporating the lines. If PC doesn`t continue to show strong brand loyalty odds are their remianing products will be rebranded within 3 years.

[tisteve]

Let`s just hope the quality stays the same. :(

[Patrick]

Personally, I think B&D has come a long way from the garbage they use to put out. I have a newer B&D jig saw that kicks some serious arse......I actually called PC a while back with an inquiry and they were reluctant to provide the info I was looking for until the whole transaction was complete.....

[Bob]

B&D is not that bad actually. They have owned DeWault forever now and we used to use some Dewault equipment on a production line and it was great.

[tisteve]

I agree that B&D is not that bad...they put out pretty good stuff for the price under the Firestorm brand (joints and bearings are kind of wobbly but 40 bucks for a 18v drill...) I just think they have made some bad decisions. DeWalt used to be the best cordless available for the money, being made in the USA. Now they are made in Mexico, still cost the same amount of money, and I know for a fact their cordless drills have issues now. I`m not knocking DeWalt I think their stuff is excellent, but I just hope that B&D doesn`t do the same thing to PC :no:

[joe.p]

i turned on my pc the other day to spin dry my pads and noticed that there was a noise that i didn`t hear the other day when i used it or when i recently purchased it.

it almost had a grinding noise and i noticed a lot of vibration when holding it at the the handle. i`ve only used it twice and i don`t remember hearing the grinding noise.

and i also noticed even without the pad, when spinning it by handle it also made a squeeking noise as if it needed to be oiled. the book states the machine is self oiled. do any of the other`s who have purchased a PC7424 notice the same problem or maybe know if a problem exist at all?