So many times I’ve researched a product, thought I had found a good solution, but then as soon as the return period lapses, I find a similar product that is clearly better.

Well, my latest example of this is with laser levels. I recently picked up a Craftsman-branded one. It seemed like a pretty good choice at the time, especially since it could be mounted on a standard camera tri-pod.

Now just about 30 days after I bought the Craftsman, I find out about the Ryobi AirGrip laser level. It just pwns the laser level category! Why is that? Well, it’s got a tiny motor in it that sucks the air out of the rubber base to suction the level down onto flat surfaces. That just rocks!

But it gets better yet. The laser is actually just an attachment that slides onto the AirGrip base. In addition to the laser, the “$35 dollar kit at Home Depot”:2 (about what I paid for the Craftsman) includes flashlight, helping hand and magnetic tray attachments.

Anyone wanna slightly-used Craftsman laser level?

[2(Home Depot page for the AirGrip kit)]http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=154217&cm_mmc=HD_Vendor_Sites-_-Ryobi-_-Direct_to_product_link-_-154217

[1(Ryobi homepage for the AirGrip kit)]http://www.ryobitools.com/index.php/catalog/tool/emm0001