Cordless Drill/Drivers...what's hot?

[Robert Payne]

I bought a Makita (white) LCT306W 18 Volt Li/Ion combination set with a VS Drill with 1/2" chuck, Impact Driver and an LED light with 2 batteries and a charger for $229 from CPO Makita. It is a great set and very potent. Batteries recharge very quickly.

[Jim Andrew]

I have 3 old Makitas, the batteries are bad, bought replacements on ebay, but they don't have the power of the originals, and now I am still buying Dewalt 18v nicads, Ace Hardware is still selling the drill with 2 batteries for 90$ on their promotions. They have another one this weekend, and I plan to pick up another for the batteries. I have numerous drills, and a set with sawzall and skilsaw, so don't want to give up their batteries. Maybe I should get 2 sets. The tools are durable,the batteries last a long time, still not a bad way to go.

[Ole Anderson]

For the benefit of others with the same question, but not wanting to drop $200 on each tool, the new PC 20 volt combo pack is real nice, got one for my son. About $161 on Amazon for the set including 2 smaller Lion batteries and a charger.

[Prashun Patel]

I've used a few different brands. I've settled on the Ridgid 12v. They're just so darn cheap. The batteries go on sale every now and then too. This winter I found a couple sets of the 4aH battery 2-packs for $50/ea.

The drill kit goes on sales several times a year for $99 (the cost of new batteries for any other brand) and for marginally higher you can even get an impact driver thrown in.

It's just hard to compete with that.

[mreza Salav]

I've used a few different brands. I've settled on the Ridgid 12v. They're just so darn cheap. The batteries go on sale every now and then too. This winter I found a couple sets of the 4aH battery 2-packs for $50/ea.

The drill kit goes on sales several times a year for $99 (the cost of new batteries for any other brand) and for marginally higher you can even get an impact driver thrown in.

It's just hard to compete with that.

Why do you buy batteries? if you register your tool within 90 days for LSA, you can get new batteries for life-time. It works (I've swapped 3 batteries so far).

[Erik Loza]

You summed the game in a nutshell, Erik.

The manufacturers move on, the old gear in their rearview. The consumer is boxed in, in terms of discarding the main gear, in favor of new gear that is supported.

Oh - wait......are we talking about cordless drills/drivers, or PCs?

You know, I can somewhat understand it with computers: OS's get updated, new features, etc. Just like desktop printers, where the ink costs as much as the printer but maybe you get better wifi printing or faster, whatever. Those, I can somewhat justify.

It was a lot harder for me to swallow the cordless drill-thing because I found myself in the position of having to get rid of a perfectly good (for my needs, at least...) tool not because it would not do the job but because the consumables were prohibitively expensive.

Erik

[Martin Wasner]

I'm a big fan of Panasonic. They're a little bit more money, but I think they are a great value. When all of my old Nimh powered Panasonic drills were dying, I went and bought three drill and driver kits with brushless motors, and Li-Ion batteries also from Panasonic. They've held up very well in the shop. I haven't had a problem yet, the batteries hold a charge well, and the mechanicals are still very good. They are all about three or four years old at this point.

My first impact was a Makita. Nice unit, low profile. I had to replace the case on it once. Where the battery connects to the body, it cracked when it fell off of a bench one day. I also went through a few batteries in a couple of years. I don't know if Makita still does it, but they used to have a fifteen minute charger. That's just too hard on the batteries. The faster you charge a battery pack, the shorter the lifespan of it will be. Nice in a pinch, but thinking ahead is cheaper.

[Prashun Patel]

I am talking about the 4ah batteries not the stock 1ahs that come with it.

[Larry Edgerton]

I changed my mind........

[Tom Deutsch]

I bought the Bosch 18v LI kit 6 or 7 years ago, used it semi-professionally for a couple years and fairly often for around the house and helping friends since then. The 2 original batteries have held up really well and I like the compactness and balance of both units. Driver is a bit down on power from when it was new, but it has paid for itself.
I have sworn off modern DeWalt since a recip saw and a corded hammer drill both machined themselves to death. Lots of people seem to like the cordless yellow and black stuff though.

[Prashun Patel]

Totally disagree. I find the ridgid's very well balanced. And (broken record alert) with the replacement 4aH batteries, they stand up on their own, unlike most other 12v models.

[Chris Harry]

Totally disagree. I find the ridgid's very well balanced. And (broken record alert) with the replacement 4aH batteries, they stand up on their own, unlike most other 12v models.

My only problem with Ridgid 12V is the lack of more tools. The Milwaukee M12 line is huge, Bosch has more tools than Ridgid but not as many as Milwaukee (at least here in the US), etc.

My brother in law picked up the 2 piece Ridgid 12V kit becase it was a good deal and eventually got a 2 pack of the batteries on clearance from Home Depot....but his question after that was "what do I use the extra batteries for? there are no other tools"

[John Sanford]

18v Compact Brushless - best combination of power, weight, size, flexibility, etc.

DeWalt is in that space, and Milwaukee has just announced they're moving into it as well. My DeWalt 20Max XR drill/driver is a bit smaller, definitely lighter, more powerful, and has better run time than my old 12v DeWalt 972 nicad. Of course it has more power, but did I mention it is both smaller and lighter? I don't rec

For truly small and light, the action is in the 12v brushless space, which is almost completely owned by Milwaukee, although Bosch is slowly making moves. AFAIK, no other manufacturer even has any 12v (actually 10.8) brushless tools other than those two. I've yet to hear any complaints about the Milwaukee 12v Fuel tools, other than how buying them can be addictive.

Head over to Garage Journal, there are a LOT of discussions on this topic.

Oh, and over there you can also find out about private label Panasonic tools going cheap, cheap.

[John Sanford]

Totally disagree. I find the ridgid's very well balanced. And (broken record alert) with the replacement 4aH batteries, they stand up on their own, unlike most other 12v models.

The DeWalts stand on their own. Milwaukee and Bosch both make 4ah packs that allow the tools to stand on their own. And I agree with you that it is a good thing.

[Prashun Patel]

I have not tried the Milwaukee Fuel, but if money were no object I would seriously consider this. FWW did a review and concluded this and the impact driver were in a league of their own. brushless motors; and metal, locking chucks. You should get that article; it's available at FWW online.

I will challenge you to this though: show me a person who hates their cordless drill. I submit that most people are extremely happy with their choice of drill/driver from one of the respected brands - more even than random orbit sanders, which is an area similarly crowded with really happy users. So, I think it's harder to make a mistake in choosing than it is to make the right choice.

Last, I will also submit that battery technology changes quickly enough that your tool will likely obsolesce before it dies. I would therefore not count on keeping this tool for 10 or 15 years. You heard it here first that within that time we'll have smaller, lighter, longer lasting, faster charging drills that make the ones we all use now feel like brontosauruses from Pluto. Just sayin'.