I’m looking at getting my first Festool DE. As a hobbyist, I will mainly be using it for the Shaper, TS55, and sander and probably not that often.
I want to go as compact as possible and I’m hoping the MINI will suffice.
1. Has anyone else made the MINI vs MIDI purchase and is satisfied with the the MINI?
2. Why would someone choose a MINI vs a MIDI?
3. I understand the idea of “just get the larger one and it will be enough”, but I want to not just get something I won’t need in the long run, and I’d rather be as compact as possible.
(When I used to have a shop vac and dust deputy, I don’t recall filling up a 5 gallon bucket often, and I used to also have a Tablesaw connected.)
4. Is a 2 gallon capacity good enough for light hobby work?

Thanks in advance for anyone’s shared experience and advice.

I looked at both the Mini and the Midi, at the time, my budget dictated to stay away from the other CT's.  I purchased the MIDI.  I was satisfied with it when it came to extracting dust from my TS55 and the D500 Domino.  What I did not like about the Mini was there were darn few accessories like a cord wrap and a push handle.  It required me to bend over every time I moved the Midi and steering it around my small shop was a pain.  After 4 years of pushing it around my shop, I finally dug deep and ordered the CT-26 with the push handle.  Although the CT-26 works just as well as the Midi for dust extraction where it shined was it had a cord wrap and with the CT Push handle, maneuvering it around my shop was effortless.  My recommendation, buy the CT-26 with a push handle and forget about the Midi or Mini.

I’m looking at getting my first Festool DE. As a hobbyist, I will mainly be using it for the Shaper, TS55, and sander and probably not that often.
I want to go as compact as possible and I’m hoping the MINI will suffice.
1. Has anyone else made the MINI vs MIDI purchase and is satisfied with the the MINI?
2. Why would someone choose a MINI vs a MIDI?
3. I understand the idea of “just get the larger one and it will be enough”, but I want to not just get something I won’t need in the long run, and I’d rather be as compact as possible.
(When I used to have a shop vac and dust deputy, I don’t recall filling up a 5 gallon bucket often, and I used to also have a Tablesaw connected.)
4. Is a 2 gallon capacity good enough for light hobby work?

Thanks in advance for anyone’s shared experience and advice.

1. I very recently went through this same conundrum and decided on the MIDI for a few reasons:
- It's only larger in height (as Cheese showed in his post).
- It uses the same bag as the mini but has 50% more capacity.
- It's only $40 more than the mini.
2. I could only see someone going for a mini over a midi if they plan on using it with a separator. Otherwise, the midi is a better buy all around. But even then, I'd still go for the midi because you still get to use the full capacity of the bag. Granted, it'll probably take a year or more to fill with using a separator, but you'd still get the full capacity. Another use case for the mini is it being as light as possible for mobility, but the midi is not even 1lb heavier.
3. Again, the midi is only 2" taller than the mini. Pretty much negligible.
4. I would not settle on a 2 gallon vac for the uses you outlined. It will fill quickly, and every time you change the back, you'll kick yourself for not getting the midi after seeing the bag only a bit more than half full.

I looked at both the Mini and the Midi, at the time, my budget dictated to stay away from the other CT's.  I purchased the MIDI.  I was satisfied with it when it came to extracting dust from my TS55 and the D500 Domino.  What I did not like about the Mini was there were darn few accessories like a cord wrap and a push handle.  It required me to bend over every time I moved the Midi and steering it around my small shop was a pain.  After 4 years of pushing it around my shop, I finally dug deep and ordered the CT-26 with the push handle.  Although the CT-26 works just as well as the Midi for dust extraction where it shined was it had a cord wrap and with the CT Push handle, maneuvering it around my shop was effortless.  My recommendation, buy the CT-26 with a push handle and forget about the Midi or Mini.

The midi has a push handle, 204310, and a cord wrap is included. The 26 is over $100 more than the midi. Also, if the bluetooth remote is desired, it's another $82 since it doesn't have the bt module built in to the vac like the midi/mini do. To add bluetooth to the midi, it's a $42 for just the remote.

Quote from: Olive Press on June 26, 2022, 08:55 AM

I’m looking at getting my first Festool DE. As a hobbyist, I will mainly be using it for the Shaper, TS55, and sander and probably not that often.
I want to go as compact as possible and I’m hoping the MINI will suffice.
1. Has anyone else made the MINI vs MIDI purchase and is satisfied with the the MINI?
2. Why would someone choose a MINI vs a MIDI?
3. I understand the idea of “just get the larger one and it will be enough”, but I want to not just get something I won’t need in the long run, and I’d rather be as compact as possible.
(When I used to have a shop vac and dust deputy, I don’t recall filling up a 5 gallon bucket often, and I used to also have a Tablesaw connected.)
4. Is a 2 gallon capacity good enough for light hobby work?

Thanks in advance for anyone’s shared experience and advice.

1. I very recently went through this same conundrum and decided on the MIDI for a few reasons:
- It's only larger in height (as Cheese showed in his post).
- It uses the same bag as the mini but has 50% more capacity.
- It's only $40 more than the mini.
2. I could only see someone going for a mini over a midi if they plan on using it with a separator. Otherwise, the midi is a better buy all around. But even then, I'd still go for the midi because you still get to use the full capacity of the bag. Granted, it'll probably take a year or more to fill with using a separator, but you'd still get the full capacity. Another use case for the mini is it being as light as possible for mobility, but the midi is not even 1lb heavier.
3. Again, the midi is only 2" taller than the mini. Pretty much negligible.
4. I would not settle on a 2 gallon vac for the uses you outlined. It will fill quickly, and every time you change the back, you'll kick yourself for not getting the midi after seeing the bag only a bit more than half full.

Quote from: krudawg on June 26, 2022, 11:30 AM

I looked at both the Mini and the Midi, at the time, my budget dictated to stay away from the other CT's.  I purchased the MIDI.  I was satisfied with it when it came to extracting dust from my TS55 and the D500 Domino.  What I did not like about the Mini was there were darn few accessories like a cord wrap and a push handle.  It required me to bend over every time I moved the Midi and steering it around my small shop was a pain.  After 4 years of pushing it around my shop, I finally dug deep and ordered the CT-26 with the push handle.  Although the CT-26 works just as well as the Midi for dust extraction where it shined was it had a cord wrap and with the CT Push handle, maneuvering it around my shop was effortless.  My recommendation, buy the CT-26 with a push handle and forget about the Midi or Mini.

The midi has a push handle, 204310, and a cord wrap is included. The 26 is over $100 more than the midi. Also, if the bluetooth remote is desired, it's another $82 since it doesn't have the bt module built in to the vac like the midi/mini do. To add bluetooth to the midi, it's a $42 for just the remote.

When I bought mine a while back there was no cord wrap or accessory handle, maybe the newer midi does

Quote from: krudawg on June 26, 2022, 07:41 PM

When I bought mine a while back there was no cord wrap or accessory handle, maybe the newer midi does

I'm pretty sure the midis from 2019 onwards have the cord wraps.

Correct, cord wrap comes with it, handle is an extra purchase.

I have the mini, simply because where I store it requires the height. I had assumed the MIDI would be the obvious suggestion, but Alex saying it topples over easier. . Is Alex talking about the current generation or the last I wonder.

Might be a dumb question, because I have never seen both together in person, but will the Mini and Midi tops interchange on the lower tubs? The specs all seem to be the same, except for bag capacity? In the previous pictures, they look the same, other than the height of the tub.
I can definitely see the point of the Mini if you have a particular space requirement and if you are just using it with a TS, SO and occasional sander, it won't fill that fast. Those things make smaller chips/dust.
The cord wrap and accessory handle are rather subjective. Mine (CT26) is in a static position, in a cubbie hole. The handle would not work for me and the cord is always wrapped up.
In my situation, the Bluetooth remote is the most valuable accessory. If I had it to do over, I would probably get a Midi, purely because of cost though. The Bluetooth module is an extra with  the CT26 and those newer Mini and Midi were not available at the time, I got it. The CT26 is great and I'm certainly not disappointed by it, but either of the smaller units would do the same job for small chip tools. TS, DF, RO, MFK, etc

Might be a dumb question, because I have never seen both together in person, but will the Mini and Midi tops interchange on the lower tubs? The specs all seem to be the same, except for bag capacity? In the previous pictures, they look the same, other than the height of the tub.
I can definitely see the point of the Mini if you have a particular space requirement and if you are just using it with a TS, SO and occasional sander, it won't fill that fast. Those things make smaller chips/dust.
The cord wrap and accessory handle are rather subjective. Mine (CT26) is in a static position, in a cubbie hole. The handle would not work for me and the cord is always wrapped up.
In my situation, the Bluetooth remote is the most valuable accessory. If I had it to do over, I would probably get a Midi, purely because of cost though. The Bluetooth module is an extra with  the CT26 and those newer Mini and Midi were not available at the time, I got it. The CT26 is great and I'm certainly not disappointed by it, but either of the smaller units would do the same job for small chip tools. TS, DF, RO, MFK, etc

Not familiar with the current generation but the the first gen Mini/Midi could swap tubs.
Unfortunately it's not just a tub involved, the "tub" includes wheels and casters so you're buying more stuff than is strictly needed.

Maybe and adapter could be made to employ the unused tub to carry Systainers. From the photos above it looks feasible.

The thing I miss is the CT15-style (or better CT26 HD- style) "top" for the Mini to cut the height even more.

Then one can have a "mini" with only 390mm in total height. Sure, one loses the garage but for when transport is critical or I want to put it under something, the compactness would still make sense.

As for whem Mini makes sense it is IMO only when one is going around sites *) and more capacity means not just space but also weight - you do not want to lug around those additional pounds of dust in the bag.

ADD:

- It uses the same bag as the mini but has 50% more capacity.

Actually it is even more pronounced at 2/3 more usable capacity for a Midi:

The usable bag capacity for a Mini is 7 liters (10l total).
The usable bag capacity for the Midi is 12.5 liters (15l total).

*) Outside US that often means going up stairs even for several floors in older houses or in 50's style multi-flat blocks without elevators.