Wood Magazine just did a cordless drill evaluation which is unusually good timing since my last Ryobi 14.4 battery quit this weekend. This was my second Ryobi and it served me well for 4 years of pretty heavy use in the woodworking shop. I wouldn't want to use it on the jobsite every day, but I only paid $70 for it. My philisophy has been to just buy the whole kit because I can get a new drill, two batteries and charger for $70 and one battery cost $38.

I haven't actually decided to bite the bullet and move up to a higher priced drill, but I am looking hard at the Dewalt, Milwaukee and Panasonic. I can't help but wonder how the Festool drill received a top tool award when it finished 7th in battery life, 12th in chuck holding ability, 6th in torque, middle of the road in charge time and cost $375, $135 more than the next most expensive drill. The other two top tools, the Dewalt and Panasonic, finished very high in all categories. The Panasonic was 1st and Dewalt 4th in run time. The Dewalt was 3rd in torque and 1st in chuck holding capability. The Panasonic was 4th in chuck holding. What makes the Festool so good?