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Jet 1100 CFM Cartridge Dust Collector (2003)

Likes:

Cannister works well.
2 micron filtration.
Easy to clean canister by rotatin the flappers and banging on the cage.
clear dust bag.
Fairly easy to change dust bag.
Rolls around on base easily.
Plenty of suction/flow.
Supports 6" mains with no problem.
Excellent manual with clear instructions.

Dislikes:

Not cheap (probably largely because it was one of the first units to sell with the canister filter).

Keep in mind:

You'll spend almost as much on piping/flex/fittings as the DC itself.

You can read more about my approach to dust collection on this page. There you'll find more details about the collector, ductwork, machine connections, blast gates, chip collector, ambient air filter, and respirator.

Update Feb 2006:
Well it's hard to believe I'd had this thing for three years, but it's still in my shop going strong. I've had a few trials and tribulations with it over that time, but overally I'm still happy with it. The one problem I struggled with is clogging of the canister filter. After a bout with cutting mdf and using the drum sander I found the canister almost completely clogged with fine dust, and I only noticed it when the airflow/suction was dramatically reduced. After that happened I cleaned the canister very well and pre-treated it with a 5# bag of flour (yes, the cooking kind of flour) which is supposed to act as a release agent on the filter. I also rotate the flappers much more often, and I'll also often bang on the housing to release any caked on dust. Since then I've had no issues with clogging - all it takes is some simple and quick routine maintenance.

I've gone through a couple iterations of fan mounting mods in an effort to improve the efficiency of the ductwork. This was the first:

It worked well, but having the fan on the home-made stand was kinda clunky and ineligant. So I recently changed things around to this V2.0 mod with the fan lagged to the ceiling joists:

Works well. The ducting design is a bit more efficient in the original mod since you get a longer straight run into the fan inlet. You can tell the wye close to the fan in the V2.0 mod isn't optimal for airflow, but it's much better than the stock design and it's very very space-efficient for my shop.

I've considered upgrading to a cyclone DC on a few occasions, but this thing works so darn well and the cyclones take up so much more floorspace that I just can't justify a change. I'd still recommend this machine for a small/med sized shop as long as you commit to keeping the filter from clogging.