Ah, the silly things that turn up in my feed.

Seen here:

Unsure whether to get a miter or circular saw?

Both.  You need both.  They don't serve the same purpose.

Oh, sure, you can cut 2X4s to length with a circular saw, but getting the ends properly square is going to be a major pain.  Actually, just cutting them is going to be a pain.  A miter saw makes life easy... and can cut moderately thicker lumber, too, if you get a decent-sized one.  Doing specific angles?  Definitely want that miter saw.

On the other hand, there's no way you're gonna carve up a full sheet of plywood with a home-gamer miter saw.  A handheld circular saw is the weapon of choice.  Or a bloody huge CNC router, but the circular saw is both much cheaper and much easier to store when not in use.

As Insty says: embrace the healing power of both.

Comments

[Rob]

#1, A corded circular saw is first, that can do it!
#2, A miter saw is one of those "what did I do without it" tools (you know the answer is you used the circular saw).
#3, A battery operated circular saw (same brand & size of your other batt powered tools) can be real handy.

At this point in time I'm using the miter saw 80% of the time, if I need a few simple cuts away from the shop I used the batt tool. If it's serious I grab the corded saw & extension cord.

[Eric Wilner]

That's a fair match for my list; just got the cordless circular saw, which I figure will be useful on the fishing-pier project next month - the corded one is 30-ish years old, and kinda beat up but still works.
Also: jigsaw (used moderately often), scroll saw (not yet used, but it seemed like a good idea), cordless reciprocating saw (often useful), and of course a chainsaw. And a pole saw....
Sometime soonish, I mean to acquire a table saw. Got several things on my want-to-do list that kinda call for a table saw, scary as they may be.

[Rob]

Looks beat up but works means that it works, good enough! Nothing wrong with looking for a table saw on craigslist or the like, I got a nice DeWalt from an estate sale.

[Eric Wilner]

The old saw doesn't just look beat up; it's somewhat bent out of shape, so not great for precise work. The new cordless one turns out to be, somehow, much quieter, as well as having modern niceties like a brake and a headlight.
I expect I'll continue using the old one where power is handy and a slightly warped foot isn't a problem. Maybe I'll even disassemble it and have a go at straightening out the foot.