Originally Posted by warrenpenalver

Ive heard DA polishers are much "safer" but i presume with safety comes a trade off with a DA's ability to remove paint defects???

Not entirely true in most circumstances. DA's are indeed safer, but providing you have the correct polishes for the paint finish, you can acheive the same amount of correction as a Rotary, it will just take longer due to the DA being a gentler machine.

can you still achieve removal of most swirls and still work down deeper paint defects like on a rotary??

As said above, you can but it will take longer. Bare in mind that even Rotarys can occasionally not manage to remove deeper marks. A lot of the times, this means the car will require wet-sanding in that area, which is a completely different ball game.

and is the technique any different??

Not really. Technique is pretty much the same, working the Polish in at Varying pressures and speeds.

So what is the best compromise for the DIY/amateur looking to keep his own paintwork in good nick??

Everything comes with experience. There is no compromise. Providing you have taken every pre-caution beforehand, you should do fine. The most important thing before polishing is prepping the car, so things like Paint Readings, Clay-Barring and Taping Up all need to be done. If that has all been done and you are happy with the Results, then take a deep breath and have a shot. If your really worried about ruining your paint though, then maybe look into practicing on some body panels from a scrap yard, or a old car with tired paint if you have one.