I've had the MK 101 Pro for probably 10 years now, and it's still working well. I've had to do very little maintenance on it and I've gone through quite a few blades. I haven't heard a lot of reviews on the DeWalt but what I've heard has been good. I think by the time you get the MK and a stand, you'll have spent about the same as if you bought the DeWalt. The blades that come with those are fine to get you started, but you may find that you'll want to replace it fairly soon. Don't go cheap on the blade. A good blade on a cheap saw will still work pretty well, but a crappy blade on a top-of-the-line saw is about as efficient as breaking the tile over your knee.
For CBU, I use a grinder with a 4" diamond turbo blade. While a skilsaw with the 7" blade will make straight cuts a little faster and easier than the grinder, the grinder will make smaller cuts and circular cuts much easier. I find it better to work with just the one tool, and it doubles as tile cutter for cuts I can't make with the wet saw. Of course, whenever possible I use Ditra in lieu of CBU. While the material cost is higher, the benefits of Ditra over CBU make the product well worth the extra cost. It's much lighter (323 sf weight about 40 lbs., compared to several hundred lbs. for the same sf in CBU), cuts with a utility knife (no dust), no screws/nails needed, and no joints to tape and mud. There is the extra time involved to fill all the cutback cavities, but you're using unmodified thinset which gives you a little more cost savings.
For a mixing drill, I have had a Bosch 1/2" drill for quite a few years now and it's still going strong. I've had a Milwaukee and another off-brand drill, neither of which held up like the Bosch. I prefer it over a mixing drill because the Bosch is also a hammer drill which comes in handy for drilling masonry.
1/2" Drill with Dual Torque Ranges/ Model: 1169VSR
I have a quick drive screw gun, but haven't used it on CBU much since I'm using Ditra most of the time now. Make sure you get one that will drive the shorter screws. A lot of times the only screws I can get are 2" long or longer. It's always best to use screws that are the thickness of the CBU+underlayment/subfloor, or as close to that as you can get. They're much faster and easier than driving standard screws with a drill, even when considering the extra cost of the screws.
I've migrated over to the larger snap cutter in the past few years because I was doing so much large format tile. I didn't find it necessary to keep a smaller cutter around for the smaller tile, but it would be handy when working in a small area like a bathroom or laundry room. The larger cutters can take up too much space and get in the way. With so much of the harder porcelain tile being used these days, I find myself going to the saw for every cut. Some of those tiles don't lend themselves to snap-cutting. It's frustrating to have to go to the saw every time, but some tile just won't be snapped. Keeping a good cutting wheel on your cutter is the key to clean, sharp cuts.
Good luck with your re-entry to tile installation. Hope it works well for you. We're always here to help if you need us.
but I try to use other products than CBU if possible.
