A good saw isn't cheap, but it'll last you a lifetime. Expect to fork over $125-plus for a high-quality one. Use a cheap, old saw for dusty, abrasive jobs like cutting paving bricks and scoring sidewalks. It also makes a great loaner for your butterfingered brother-in-law. It won't be quite as painful to throw a cheap saw away when the bearings or motor burns up.

We won't test and rate saw brands because within any one price range, saws are pretty much equal in power and quality. One saw is arguably as good as another-personal favorites should be based on the smoothness of cutting and the feel. Since you probably won't be allowed to take one for a test drive, you'll need to choose based on the way the saw feels to you in the store. Before you buy, check display models for weight, ease of depth adjustment and comfort in the hand. If you aim for the top of the very wide middle price range and the saw feels good, you can't go wrong.

A. 16-24 tooth, all-purpose, carbide-tipped blade - $5 to $15. The one you'll be using 95 percent of the time.

B. 30-tooth crosscut blades - $25 to $35. These yield a nice, clean, nearly splinter-free cut on veneered surfaces such as oak-faced plywood and laminate countertops. Thirty-tooth crosscut blades are great for trimming the bottoms of doors and just about any other trim work.

C. Corundum abrasive blades - $2 to $4. They're labeled for metal or masonry and work slowly but well for cutting mild steel or masonry as long as you don't have a lot of material to cut. If you have several feet of sidewalk to cut, buy three to four blades at a time because they wear down very fast. Similarly, metal abrasive blades are only worth fooling with if you have a few steel fence posts to cut.

D. Diamond masonry blades - $40 to $70. These blades make fine, long cuts quick and easy and are worth buying if you're planning on doing a lot of stucco, concrete or brick cutting (like a paver driveway, for example). You'll have the blade for years if your friends don't find out about it.

E. Carbon steel metal-cutting blades - $10 to $15. For cutting mild steel such as metal roofing, fence posts, metal studs and sheet metal.

F. Used blades - free.Save your old blades for cutting through shingled roofs and nail-embedded or dirty wood.