...so apples-to-apples Jet 1550, Woodmaster 1700. Not enough difference to decide based on price.
...The Jet drum motor seems anemic compared to the Woodmaster's 5 hp, but if it were really underpowered I think I'd be reading more complaints to that affect. I think the Woodmaster motor is a Baldor. Not sure how to compare the conveyer motors (Woodmaster 1/6 hp, Jet 42 inch-lb torque...both dc).
[size=+1]Not a really valid comparison, but the 1hp on my 10/20 won't allow a pass deeper than about 1/128 without popping the (onboard) circuit breaker. That makes the Jet motor on a 22 inch piece seem a bit anemic to me.[/size]
Read an interesting comment about how changing height by moving the table created an annoyance with keeping separate infeed/outfeed tables aligned. I suppose it could.
[size=+1]Probably not that big a problem. Once set, you'll only be moving them a few 64th of an inch from start to finish on pieces of like-sized stock. If you're doing a lot of widely varied sizes in on project, it might be more of an issue, though.[/size]
Saw complaints about the velcro sandpaper with this type machine, and one post from a guy in the abrasives industry recommended not using it. Still looking into that aspect.
[size=+1]Did that guy even sell the velcro backed paper? Might be his reason......I've been considering converting my Performax over to velcro.[/size]
Although I don't expect to be sanding panels more than 26" wide, I couldn't imagine needing a jointer wider than 8" either. I now have a 12" jointer and occasionally wish I'd bought a 16". I like the open-end aspect of the Jet for the increased capacity, but have read many complaints about the difficulty of keeping the arm aligned parallel...of course it's impossible to know whether or not the complaints were written by guys who have difficulty changing a sawblade. Also read a review where the guy said easy to align and it stays that way. So who knows.
[size=+1]The actual alignment can be (was) a pain, but I only had to do it once. It's held solidly - even including a cross country move. I'd guess (key word: guess) that the longer drum might tend to sag more, though. I dunno.[/size]
I occasionally do scrolling and prepare small pieces, and the Jet is a better fit for that, although the 7" of the Woodmaster isn't a show-stopper.
[size=+1]I wonder how Jet arrived at the length? On my smaller one, the distance from the infeed hold-down roller to the bottom of the drum is more like 4 inched, and then 4" more to the outfeed hold-down. I've never really tried a really short piece on it, though. I'd think that a piece the didn't span the two surfaces might get sucked away into the DC. BTW, you need really good dust collection with one of these.[/size]
At this point I'm leaning toward the Woodmaster. I suspect their customer support is unsurpassed, although I've read good things about Jet in that regard as well.
[size=+1]Dunno about Woodmaster support. AllI can say about Jet is that I've never needed it. I guess that does say something about their product, though...[/size]
So about another week of research. Any additional thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers.