[Robert Coats]

I've had the big 2-stage Puma belt-drive vertical for about 11 years now and its been bulletproof. Change the oil and clean the air filters once a year, drain the tank every month, no issues at all. Plenty of PSI and CFM to run any tool I've every used with it.

Bolted to my garage floor, it's a bit noisy (70 dB) when running. If I had the time/money to do it over, I'd put in on a pad outside the garage and build a small shed to cover it up.

Always buy more compressor than you need. You many think you only need it to run an impact or nailer, but will find things like a drill, sander, spraygun, etc. will be great to run, and you don't want to have to wait for the system to re-charge all the time.

Two other tips: (1) Install a small ball valve, 45-degree elbow and suitable length of tube/pipe in place of the compressor's oil sump drain bolt. Makes it much easier and less messy to simply open the valve and drain the oil. Remove and hide the valve handle if you have kids in the house; they WILL open it to "see what happens." (2) Install another ball valve and male fitting on the tank drain. Use it to (a) easily open/drain water, (b) connect up easily to quickly manually fill a portable air tank. You don't have to hold a chuck down on the filler valve, just connect, open valve and watch the gauge on the portable until it's filled.