Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

[mscher]

I've got room for one on my Xmas list for one.

Emphasis on a good driver mechanism and strong battery.

My budget is $100 - 130, which seems middle-of-the-road, for cordless drills.

Any input appreciated.

Marty

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I've used Bosch for years and love them. They also have reconditioned tools on their site. Never had a problem with these either. I've tried lots of them over the years for work and these held up the best...

http://bosch.cpotools.com/reconditioned_tools/?ref=googaffl976 ] Bosch Reconditioned Tools[/url]

 

[ndemge]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I was at grainger, they had the really small bosch driver there, and man is it torqy!!! $130ish

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

Unless you are just into the name brand loyalty thing or want a specific color tool, the Sears Craftsman is the cordless drill that whipped snot on all other in its class when put to the test, including kicking butt on cordless that are $100+ more, and it cost less money than most others. You’ll actually have enough money left over to buy yourself a couple of non-fat, triple-smooth, mocha-enhanced, soy-based, hold-the-foam, caramel, it-used-to-be-just-a, cup of coffees.

I have a Bosch, no particular love for it, it goes around when it’s supposed to. I would suggest considering the beefier 19.6v (whatever) over the 14.4v for big projects, framing, that kind of thing. For casual use around the house the 14.4v is fine. I think they are all made in China now, nothing we can do about that.

 

[jimr]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I have a hitachi 14.4 drill and before that a 12v black and decker the hitachi is twice the drill. I also have a dewalt 12v driver that is about 7 years old and still going strong. We have a new 18v dewalt drill at work and its a piece of junk I don't know what happened to dewalts quality but they forgot it on this one.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

My experience with a Sears cordless drill was just the opposite of 18rabbit's. I bought one on sale and mine was gutless and the batteries did not last long at all. I have a Ryobe and like it.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

If you want to drive screws forget the drill, get a cordless impact driver. They are smaller and lighter and drive screws like you wouldn't believe and almost no slipping off the head. I have a 14.4v Makita set with impact driver and also a drill, I never use the drill. The impact driver has held up very well for over a year of daily professional use. Hitachi makes a nice one that we've been using for a year or so also.

 

[Link]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I had a 9.6v black n decker that I thought was great
Until I got a 9.6v makita ..twice the drill
until I got a 9.6v dewalt...
Now using a dewalt xrp 14.4v and very happy with it

Haven't been in the market for years but there are two things
I consider a must on any cordless drill.

A: You must be able to set it down on it battery and have it stand alone.
IE: You don't have to lay it on it's side. Mine came with an expensive steel chuck and is front heavy..what a pain

B: A positive brake that locks so you just twist the chuck to tighten the bit... no turning it on and gripping the chuck

Let us know what you get.

 

[i386]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

My 14v Dewalt (not XRP) has lasted about 6 years so far. I have 2 batteries for it and neither holds a good charge anymore. It also has the mostly plastic chuck and it's starting to have problems. It's not really cost effective for me to buy more batteries and I've never seen replacement chucks for them. It was still a pretty good drill and I wouldn't mind having another one.

We use a lot of cordless drills here at work. They bought some Ryobi drills but they didn't last very long. Currently, the guys here are using the B&D drills. We'll see how they hold up.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

For extreme duty look at the big ones.Rigid impresses me with their dual fan cooled 1 hr charger.

For my use (marine mechanic/home owner) Ryobi gets my buck.Had a 14.4 volt kit for years that finally needed new batteries,but at HomeDepot I fell in love with the 18 volt kit (circular saw,drill,light,charger and twin batteries,all in one big case) paid like $130 on sale.two weeks ago wanted the 'sawzall' unit.It was $45.

Decided I wanted a third battery and a spare blade for the circular saw.Went to HomeDepot,and it was going to cost about $35.On sale they had Drill,saw,charger and battery.$50.Guess I've got a backup dril,charger and saw now.

DHP

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

My Makita 14.4 has seen 6 years of severe abuse, to include construction site use. I have screwed countless hundreds upon hundreds, I have laid several metal roofs, you name it. Still works perfectly, batteries still hold their charge for the appropriate amounts of time. At work we have had every flavor, and the Makitas still come out on top.

 

[Sorrento 25]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I just bought the new Rigid 14.4 and it has a very high quality feel to it. Very nice charger, chuck, clutch is very accurate, battery mount well-designed. Little more money though.

My last was a cheaper 18V Skil but the professional version and it served me well for many years. The batteries gave up before the drill did.

 

[Chief101]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

My Makita 14.4 has seen 6 years of severe abuse, to include construction site use. I have screwed countless hundreds upon hundreds, I have laid several metal roofs, you name it. Still works perfectly, batteries still hold their charge for the appropriate amounts of time. At work we have had every flavor, and the Makitas still come out on top.

For my money the Makita is the best one, but the price is double your budget. Anything in your budget will likely do for around the house light use. I would also try to stay with the 14.4 Volt units, although 12 Volt may be sufficient for what you are planning. To counter my last statement, Size and weight increase significantly with the battery voltage. I have 9.6v unit, a 12v unit and a 14.4v unit. The 14.4v I use the most but the 9.6v will get me into really tight spaces. just a thought. Chief Chief

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I believe Ridgid tools all come with a lifetime warranty - including the battery. Given that, I would never buy anything for a similar price that didn't also have a lifetime warranty. Even the best of the best will wear out eventually...except the ones with a lifetime warranty.

Right now I mainly use a 9.6v Skil drill which has an 18.5v lithium ion pack that I made. If it ever dies I'll get a Ridgid, but it's about 6 years old and still works perfect, even with double the design voltage. And I'm really abusive to my tools. I think it's out in the rain right now....

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

The Ridgid tools are interesting, we have several in use right now at the shop. The lifetime warranty mentioned was/is a promotional thing that does not apply to all tools. We have lifetime warranty on our 18v kits and have used it on the junky recip saw. Ridgid tools are much heavier than they should be and the batteries don't hold a charge as well as our Makita, Porter Cable, or Hitachi tools. Ridgid are generally not as nicely designed as the other pro brand tools.

For a bomb proof coordless tool, and this is out of the price range of the original poster but for general info, go with Porter Cable, they are nearly indestructible. We have been abusing them for years and years and they will not die.

My favorite brand all around though is Makita. Very nice tools.

Milwaukee can't seem to get their cordless act together. Their industrial motor tools are great but my experiance with their cordless tools has been totally dissapointing. I'd have better enjoyed flushing my money down a toilet.

 

[brother chris]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I second the notion about buying a Rigid tool. All tools come with a lifetime warranty....no-one can beat that warranty!
I have rigid tools and every one of them is awesome.
Just remember to register your tool when you buy it, or the warranty is null and void.
Cheers,
B.C.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

Yeah Chief, I forgot I had paid close to $300 for that drill when I bought it. The upside is I got what I paid for. Yeah, it is overkill for light home duty...

 

[xtraham]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I saw a black and decker on sale at lowes today that comes with a am/fm radio charger, I can't remember the voltage 14 or 16 I think........39 bucks

 

[mscher]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

I've got room for one on my Xmas list for one.

Emphasis on a good driver mechanism and strong battery.

My budget is $100 - 130, which seems middle-of-the-road, for cordless drills.

Hey all,

What is the differences in voltages among cordless drills? Does it just simply refer to the size or is there some other factor, such as a more modern design, longer running, etc? I notice that some of the top end models have lower voltages.

Any input appreciated.

Marty

 

[xtraham]

Re: Looking at Cordless Drill Driver - Ideas?

running time depends on how hard you work it,
the larger voltage has more tourque and normaly has a longer usage time, but when the battery dies it dies fast, so you will want at least 2 batteries and a fast charger