16 inch slab saw

There has been lots of discussion on the forum about this size saw and you highlighted the two major choices if you want new.   You might use the "Search" button at the top of the page to look for "convington saw".   You will probably find some comments on both Covington and HP saws.  

I bought a Covington 1100 Series 16" saw about 2.5 years ago.   Here are some of my pros and cons and thoughts.  All of this could have changed since I got my saw.  

This saw has an auto feed (clutch) and automatic shutoff. The shutoff is a rod with basically a wingnut on it that flips the switch when the carraige reaches the wingnut. I usually am monitoring the saw closely so I don't think I have ever had it go to the shutoff.

The auto feed uses a "clutch" mechanism. There have been some complaints about the Covington clutch but I haven't had any issues on the 16-inch saw.

The blade is very difficult to align if you need to (this is not covered in the manual or on videos at least when I last looked).  I had to call Covington to get the procedure to do this and it takes a contortionist to do it plus you have to feel where to put tools to adjust it. From the videos I have seen the HP saws of this size looks like the blade alignment is pretty easy.  The more you cut and the more expensive material you cut, the more important blade alignment is.  

Another item that could have been better is the size of the drain hole. I think it is 3/8 inch diameter and I believe HP has a 1-inch opening. 3/8-inch gets clogged pretty easily.   You can get an oil cleaner with HP saws which is probably a big help in keeping the oil clean and not having to spend a lot of time draining and filtering oil.  Pretty expensive from what I have heard.  

I have heard that the same size HP saw has a lot more metal weight. That may be true but I think the Covington saw is good structurally especially for hobby use. And it isn't so heavy that you can't move it around. If you were going to be doing commercial sawing you might want to look at a heavier duty saw. On the plus side the blade is easy to remove. Overall, it has run everytime I wanted it to.  I think the overall the Covington quality is good.

Another plus to Covington is that they have people in Idaho that can answer your questions. They have always been available when I needed help or called me back very quickly.  I have heard on the forum that there have been some issues with contacting HP for help.  Plus HP I don't believe has written manuals.   They rely on videos for the most part.  

USA vs China.  Don't know if this is important to you or not.  Covington is "made" in Idaho other than probably motors and belts and maybe some other stuff.  HP is all made in China.

I bought a new saw because it was hard to get used equipment at that time and I wanted something I could get up and running fast.  If you have more time, you might consider used if you can find one.  Here is a link to a thread covering a rebuild of a saw:

forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/105793/antom

Hope this helps,
Chris