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Good answer!
There are 2 main types of buffers
1: Rotary - I leave these to the professionals. Imagine attaching a buffing wheel to the end of your drill and you now understand the motion that these things have. They can cause a lot of swirl marks and scratches in inexperienced hands and can wear through paint in a hurry. I don't own one and I don't plan to own one. If I ever have a scratch deep enough that my PCDA can't take care of it, I'll seek out the help of a very thoughtful professional.
This is the type of machine most detailing shops have. If the guy they just hired from high-school yesterday gets ahold of it, he will destroy your paint! It takes a skilled and attentive hand... these are few and far between. I spent 45 minutes removing the marks that a dealership put on the hood of an Astro Black MINI a few weeks ago and they only buffed out 1/2 a square foot of the hood. In the hands of a master, it can remove a fairly deep scratch (as long as it isn't through to the metal or primer). I've seen a new black BMW 7 series F-ed up by a "buffer jockey" who got a bit of grit on his pad and polished the entire surface of the car... with high gloss wax, it looked great until the new owner washed it once or twice...
2: Random Orbit, Dual-Action - The Porter Cable Dual Action (PCDA) is a perfect example of this. It is sold at Autopia (and rebranded as a Meguiars product on the Meguiars website) and is generally used with foam pads. Imagine the wax on / wax off movement from Karate Kid... now make it very, very small... now do it 2000 to 5000 times a minute... this will give you an idea of the movement. Because of the even pressure from the foam pad and the short throw (movement) of the polisher, it doesn't cause the circular swirl marks you might expect (unless you have dirt on your pad).
The swirl marks everyone warns you about are caused by your towels or dirt on your towels. If you go in straight lines, you are still micro-marring your finish, but the scratches are much less noticeable.
The random orbit motion and the foam pad combine to make a very safe product for the home enthusiast. You should still be careful around the corners and edges to prevent burning through the paint, but it is pretty safe overall. I love my PCDA and it has saved me many hours of hand polishing and salvaged a few neglected/injured finishes.
I hope this helps!
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