Picked up a Porter Cable 7336 tonight.
 

So i have done the handwax thing for a year or so. Now I think I'll give the orbital buffer a try.

I bought the Porter Cable after doing a bit of searching, and I'm satisfied that I got a good product, but I'm a newbie when it comes to anything other than applying final gloss products.

From reading, it appears that I also need a velcro pad attachment to hook onto normal accessory pads. Is there a recommended brand that I should look into padwise and where could I get them? I'm hearing much of this "lake country foam," are there any chain stores that I can buy these pads in?

Also, If I wanted to do a nice job on a car that is about 2-3 years old and never been waxed, where should I start/what products should I buy?

As far as I know you can only buy the Lake Country Mfg. pads online. I am sure there are some stores that carry them but I don't know if there are by you (let alone if there are any by me). You might want to right to them and find out if they have any distributors/dealers in your area. If not try http://autopia.org and they usually know where to get them. They also have methods people use with their Porter Cables.

Dang, no shop here has any really professional detail equipment sold as retail.

So after looking around at different stores I just went to autozone and picked up a box of 2 of their microfiber bonnets and some meguire's 'paint cleaner' and 'polish'

I used the paintcleaner and the microfiber bonnet on the stock PC sponge accessory and polished a 1998 ford windstar, forest green.

All I can say is: wow! The stratches magically disappeared, paint scuffs from various car doors and pylons came right off!

The deep scratches were still there, but for using cheap over-the-counter products and not even a real sponge attachment just the dumb microfiber 'shower cap', I wanna see what the real equipment and professional polishes will do! I'd have to say that this took like 5-6 years off the look of the car!

Now I only wished I had done before/after shots.

i've got the sonus pad kit with 2 sets of microfiber bonnets and i love it. the kit comes with 4 different pads and the velcro attachment. the bonnets go over the pad that came with your PC. i just put a coat of NXT wax yesterday on my BB and it looks great, no swirls, deep gloss, perfect.

you can get the kit from autopia.org or from other enthusiast sites. i got mine from a lexus owners club website for a fairly decent price. as far as aplication goes, autopia has great tips on using your PC as well as other general detailing info. check out commercial sites as well, i found some good techniques at meguiars.com

have fun and post some pics!