Liking the Hitachi Sander

I have to preface this post with the fact that I have never used a belt sander. That said, in my first foray using this tool I am pleased. It took my awhile to get used to handling the thing and trust that it wasn't gouging my boat.  Once I got the hang of things, I cranked up the speed and had at it. Things could have gone faster but I don't trust myself yet with coarse sandpaper. I like my approach of sneaking up on where I want to be rather taking any risk.  I hooked the sander up to the Shop Vac and plugged in through a relayed switch (so when the sander is on the vacuum kicks on as well).  Here is a pic of the set-up.

A few notes on the tool: it has s little window near the front so you can see the leading side of the business end as you use it.  Also with the vacuum connected I was blissfully unaware of any dust being created.  I read an online review that said that the tool needed constant adjustment to keep the belt centered.  I think this is user error. The adjustment knob is easy to use and I noticed that even if the belt gets pushed a bit to one side or another it will bring itself back to center on its own.  If you start trying to correct that with the adjustment knob everytime it happens you really will spend all your time adjusting.  Finally one of the deciding factors for me in choosing the Hitachi over the Porter Cable was that the Hitachi felt lighter (turns out it is 1.25 lb lighter). I knew lighter would be better but I should emphasize it is much better.  Today I used it on a vertical surface and got a quite workout using the lighter tool.