I just bought one of these and it's in a bag awaiting a return trip to Harbor Freight. It has no power - I can bring it to a stop with no effort at all. Did I just get a "dud" or is this tool really that bad? I'm reluctant to try another as HF is a half hour away.

The one I have has no lock on the paddle so you have to be real careful how you set it down. As good as the other HF angle grinders (excellent), its just if I set it down on something and it hits the paddle, away it goes.

I have generally had good luck with HF 4 1/2" grinders that I bought in the store but always found the slide switch to be inconvenient and prone to sticking from grinding residue. About 4 years ago I got one of the paddle switch units from the catalog because it was on sale and I was ordering some other stuff and could combine the shipping. It worked so well that I ordered 3 more, one for a cutoff wheel, one for a flap disc and a spare. The spare is still in the box and I beat the crap out of the grinders on a regular basis. I wish they would trash the slide switch models and just sell these exclusively.