On the PC nailers the older design was better than the newer. Seems like they were redesigned to sell in package deals at Big Boxes.
Probably hard to say good, bad, fails, without the models in any brand being known. IOW not all PC, or Bostitch or DeWalt ,etc, are the same.
I had older PCs, still have some. But have swapped out to the Bostitch Smart Point for primary use in 15ga and 18ga. I don't know about the durability but so far no problems. The features are great!
Seth