Also did anything interesting come out of the Ryobi launch?
Sort of. The whole video released 26 new tools, but virtually all are just additional tools in their new HP brushless line. The circular saw with the vacuum port is quite desirable... but it'll all come down to holiday pricing for me. These HP tools cost more than their "regular" line, so the value proposition isn't
as strong, to where it may be worth a little more to me to go with the Milwaukee.
New drills, new recip and jig saw, new multi-tool, new angle grinder, new 1/2" impact wrench and 2 new impact drivers, and a slew of new outdoor items.
Like I said, I would consider the circular saw because the dust port is important to me, when I decide to replace my plug-in circular saw. I have a Milwaukee M12, but it's too small for many applications. Besides that, the 18v leaf blower they say has 75% more power, which I could actually use, and then I'm going to be in the market for a new push mower, and their smallest new 16" brushless mower is on my radar...although the older 13" one is cheaper, and is still "enough" for my use, while also being lighter.
Their new cordless post hold digger/auger is something I would have spent my own money on as a kid to save myself from having to dig so many damned post holes. We had bison for years, then emu at two different places, and my brother and I had to dig tons of post holes over the years as kids. Ha!
When I wanted to start getting some cordless tools, i hemmed and hawed over which brand/platform to pick like I'm sure all of us. I couldn't justify the super expensive Milwaukee lawn care stuff, but the Ryobi stuff was just a little bit too cheap-y for me in many cases. So in the end, I decided I would let myself have two platforms: Ryobi for the lawn care, Milwaukee for the stuff that I might end up having to use for work to where I really needed "contract grade" reliability because my job depended on it...and then I'd still have that Ryobi platform for some of the more unique tools like the belt sander and also for tools where I DIDN'T need the pro-level stuff, like the caulk gun.
And then I realized my milwaukee charger could also charge M12 batteries, so I got a more compact bit driver (should have gotten the drill instead...), and the compact circular saw.
...and then work bought me the Dewalt 12v 3-way tripod green laser level. So I have that system now, too. Ha!