I've had mine for 10+ years and after extensive use the bottom pad has stopped gripping to the sandpaper. It is more hardwaring than you might think and the damage is mostly cosmetic. The orginal was an x-cel version which had plastic inners. The new AE has metal inners but there is otherwise very little difference. The AE sounds like is rotating very slightly slower but hardly noticeable.
I've had mine for 10+ years and after extensive use the bottom pad has stopped gripping to the sandpaper. It is more hardwaring than you might think and the damage is mostly cosmetic. The orginal was an x-cel version which had plastic inners. The new AE has metal inners but there is otherwise very little difference. The AE sounds like is rotating very slightly slower but hardly noticeable.