I just made it back from Home Depot to return the sander and exchange it for another one. We pulled the other one out to check it and it had problems too. The joint between the two surfaces was better (not perfect), but there was a bow in the plates. If you set a straight edge across the plate, it sagged in the middle on both surfaces. Definitely not ideal. I took a look at the one that has been there on display since the store opened and that one was much better.
The new sanders have a glossy silver coat painted on. The older ones had more of a steel color. In the short time I had the newer one, the table scratched. I didn’t even sand anything. This was just doing setup and adjustments.
There isn’t another home depot around me, but I think I’m going to start searching the stores I pass for one in an older box. If I remember correctly the old box was just sort of a plain box with a printed picture on it. The new box is all glossy with a photo of the tool.
It feels like Ridgid has spent a bit more on the packaging and a bit less on quality. Hopefully they take care of this. Hopefully these two machines just came from a bad batch.
On a side note. It is rare that I can pull off getting any sort of deal. I had a $5 coupon with a $50 purchase for this one (which I lost during the return). When they were trying to figure out what to do and they decided that these things were just defective, the cahier offered me a “step upgrade.” She said that pretty much meant that I could get the next level of tool no matter the cost. They would just eat it. Unfortunately, they don’t sell another tool like this one so the refund was the only option.
![[headinwall]](./images/smilies/headbangwalluf8.gif "Mad")
Of course, I lost my $5 coupon so this experience actually cost me. 
EDIT: I changed the title on this thread to help with future searches.