[rocketraider]

Ditto the Porter-Cable, or for hobbyist use a 7" or 10" Sears orbital polisher will work fine. That IS speaking of their older ones- not sure what their current selection will do because I'd almost bet they're made in China. Milwaukee makes nice DA and rotary polishers too, but airboddy knows Milwaukee is expensive.

Polishes are always going to be a personal preference. Meguiar's is excellent and readily available in most chain auto parts stores. 3M is also an excellent line but odds are you'll have to go to a body and paint supply to get it. I used a product line called "Presta" for a while back in the mid 90s when I was doing a lot of showcar detailing and it worked well too. Burford "Pro" yellow or blue wax was always a fine quality finish wax no matter what you used to bring out the gloss before you applied wax.

Talk to some of the body shop supply houses and see what they recommend, or what most of their shop customers are using as far as product and pads.