Belt Drive or Direct Drive?
Belt driven is better than direct driven. All of the ~30 gal 1-2 hp compressors from Sears are direct drive and very noisy. They will run any impact wrench, nail gun, or similar tool that does not require extended air flow, but you will see their limits the first time you try to use a grinder or sander or any continuous-running tool. My brother-in-law built a fence in his yard, and we set up all the posts and then used a nail gun to put up the boards, and his poor 30 gal. direct drive compresor was running all day as we were shooting a lot of nails.
