# Drill/Driver Opinions Wanted



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

http://www.cpotools.com/bosch-cordl...s-impact-drivers-and-wrenches,default,sc.html
I've found some good deals on this web site.
I own 3 Ryobi impact drills and love them. The less then 1/2 the price and the batterys are al less then half.
I've never owned a Bosch tool except for a sawall that's worked fine for many years.
One thing I like to do is check on Amazon.com for pricing and at the bottom of the listing it has comments from people who own the tool.


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## itin1200 (Oct 10, 2009)

I'm pretty much in love with my Makita 18v Lithium Ion tools. 

That being said, I also have an over 15-year-old PC 14.4 nicad drill that just keeps on working. Kit came with two batteries which reached their end of life a couple years ago. Took them to a local Batteries Plus and had them rebuilt for about $30 each. Both batteries are still going strong, although now that I own the Makita stuff the PC is no longer the first tool I pick up.

Just tossing the re-built battery idea out there. Might save some money and keep the drill going for a while longer.


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

ive owned many cordless drills, the two best performing brand ive owned were the makita's and the bosch. i had two dewalts which were crap. overweight and underpowered, the compact 18v lith ion milwaukee i had was garbage right out of the package then 3 months after i bought it with minimal use the clutch went on it so it wouldnt go into high speed not to mention very short battery run times

currently im onto my 3rd bosch impact and 1st drill and my only complaint is that they came in a tool bag instead of a hard case


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## mickey cassiba (Mar 17, 2011)

itin1200 said:


> I'm pretty much in love with my Makita 18v Lithium Ion tools.
> 
> That being said, I also have an over 15-year-old PC 14.4 nicad drill that just keeps on working. Kit came with two batteries which reached their end of life a couple years ago. Took them to a local Batteries Plus and had them rebuilt for about $30 each. Both batteries are still going strong, although now that I own the Makita stuff the PC is no longer the first tool I pick up.
> 
> Just tossing the re-built battery idea out there. Might save some money and keep the drill going for a while longer.


I had a bad run with BP both professionally and personally. I took a couple of work batteries down to our local store for a recell...one caught fire in the charger, another lasted exactly 2 days longer than the warranty, and refused to take a charge. These were Dewalts. My PC 19.2 (personal property) never would take a charge...even after three returns to the BP store. The top end(connectors) checked good for conductivity, but the cells kept burning their soldered connections. I think I'm going to take the step up to the Li-on type system.


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## mickey cassiba (Mar 17, 2011)

woodworkbykirk said:


> ive owned many cordless drills, the two best performing brand ive owned were the makita's and the bosch. i had two dewalts which were crap. overweight and underpowered, the compact 18v lith ion milwaukee i had was garbage right out of the package then 3 months after i bought it with minimal use the clutch went on it so it wouldnt go into high speed not to mention very short battery run times
> 
> currently im onto my 3rd bosch impact and 1st drill and my only complaint is that they came in a tool bag instead of a hard case


I hear you on the Dewalts...I had nothing but grief from the two I've owned. My little impact rocks, but the batteries have no staying power. 
The bag vs hard case don't affect me none...my tools don't travel anymore(retired now) I just need something to get out in the yard without dragging a tail behind me.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I just upgraded my ancient Makita 9.6v driver to Makita 18v. I shopped around a lot and also really liked the Bosch stuff. Only issue that turned me off of Bosch was that the light is on the foot of the drill and not on the cowl. So it would be blocked in many situations, like working around pipes and such under cabinets. Hitachi also looked like an exceptional value. I have some of their AC power stuff that is excellent.

On the downside the Makitas seem to have a battery design issue where the lion battery control board takes its power from the first pair of cells (there are 5 pairs in a 18v battery) so if left sitting for a long time the first pair can discharge to a level that the charger thinks the difference from the other pairs indicates a bad cell, in which case the battery can be bricked. Not a problem for you contractors that use and charge the tools frequently but can be for us homeowners. Workaround is to put them on the charger for 5 minutes every few monthes to equalize cells. Also Makita seems to offer replacements even beyond the warranty if the battery has seen few recharge cysles.

Love the Makita tools. I got the smaller of the 2 hammer drill/drivers, the 1/4" impact tool (what a great tool), a circ saw and grinder. All seem to be good quality.

Lots of great choices out there these days. You probably can't go wrong with many of the brands.


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## itin1200 (Oct 10, 2009)

Redired. I hope to get there in another 25 years of so...

Like I said, I really like the Makita stuff. Used a 7/8 Irwin bit <http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-3041006-Speedbor-6-Piece/dp/B000LQ905E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325683480&sr=8-3> in my impact driver to drill well over 100 holes in old, solid studs for a wiring project. One battery had power to spare when I was done, and my arm felt great. No twisting the wrist when the bit got stuck.

Another plus for me is the size of the tools. At the ripe old age of 45 I've come to appreciate light weight tools with small grips. 

Both the Bosch and Makita get great reviews. I've heard the complaints about the Makita batteries that raylo32 mentioned, but haven't experienced it...fingers crossed.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

I've had 4 DeWalt drills and 2 DeWalt impact drivers ranging in age from 20+ years to 4 years old. Except for the 3/8 angle drill, all have been used hard and continue to perform flawlessly, including the one that slipped off of a roof and landed on the concrete 2 stories below. Every time a drill/driver thread opens, DeWalts take a bashing, but I honestly can say that they've been worth every penny. If one of them died today, I'd pick up another DeWalt in a heartbeat.


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## itin1200 (Oct 10, 2009)

I agree, never had a problem with the Dewalt tools I own. All corded, and tough as nails. 

Going cordless I think you have to look at the whole family of tools that the batteries will power. And the Dewalt line certainly looks good. No experience with them though, so I can't offer an opinion.


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## MooseWoodworks (Dec 30, 2010)

I hate it that you've had such a bad experience with cells being rebuilt as I was going to suggest that. I know a couple of guys who've had various brand cells rebuilt with good experience. However, in your case, I don't blame you for not going the rebuild route. Sounds like your local BP is crap. 

Whatever model drill/driver you decide to get search the model number on Amazon and read the reviews. Usually there are a ton and they can give you a pretty clear picture of ANY common problems seen from that particular model. I saw someone suggest this here in another thread and it has proved invaluable to me in my search for tools. Thanks to whoever originally brought that up.


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## itin1200 (Oct 10, 2009)

And strongly consider this site. Good prices for both new and refurb.

I've bought several refubished tools from them and all are like new at a considerable savings.

For disclosure, I have no connection to them beyond being a satisfied customer.

http://www.cpooutlets.com/shop-our-outlets/shop-our-outlets,default,pg.html


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## rusty baker (Feb 13, 2009)

I bought Skil, but they didn't last. Then about 5 years ago I bought 2 unbranded for $4 a piece off a wholesale tool website. They are still going strong, but the website is gone and I have no idea who made them. They have no identifying info at all on them.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Yeah, I like the lighter weight with the small batteries with the drill/driver and impact tools. So I got a pair of them to go along with the pair of larger batteries that came with my drill/driver and impact tool set. One thing is that the small batteries will not fit some of the other LXT tools (they will fit the drill/driver and impact) like the grinder and saw. There is a workaround that involves grinding off a small bump in the plastic that keeps the small ones from going on. But I don't see much advantage to using the small batteries in those large tools.

Also, as fate would have it, a coworker told me that just this weekend one of his ~1 year old Makita batteries will not accept a charge. He used it extensively while installing a steel roof on his house last spring but it had mostly been sitting since. I told him that Makita will likely replace it for him. I hope so.....




itin1200 said:


> Redired. I hope to get there in another 25 years of so...
> 
> Like I said, I really like the Makita stuff. Used a 7/8 Irwin bit <http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industrial-3041006-Speedbor-6-Piece/dp/B000LQ905E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325683480&sr=8-3> in my impact driver to drill well over 100 holes in old, solid studs for a wiring project. One battery had power to spare when I was done, and my arm felt great. No twisting the wrist when the bit got stuck.
> 
> ...


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## bpm (Feb 8, 2011)

I have the exact Bosch drill/driver you are asking about. I've had it for about 3 months and have put quite a few hours on it already. So far, I'm very happy with it. The battery life, the chuck, weight, balance, and durability all seem good. I'm not sure what the price is that you are looking at but when I bought mine it came in a kit with an impact driver, two batteries, charger and a tool bag. I don't remember the exact price, but I know it wasn't more than $200. The impact driver has been great too. I think the impact driver is invaluable if you are driving a lot of screws, especially larger screws. You get a lot more torque from it.


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## woodworkbykirk (Sep 25, 2011)

regarding the dewalt batteries catching on fire, this isnt the first ive heard of this,, but not with rebuilt ones.. about 5 years ago dewalt had to issue a recall on a very large number of batteries and tools which were catching on fire... . and these weren't a newly designed item.. 

i stay pretty up to date with whats what in tools and dewalt seems to be having most of the problems with recalls on cordless gear.. they really have to stop focusing on mass production and mass marketing and start focusing on quality items.. this is the main reason i choose bosch when buying tools. ive had to send more dewalt gear in for repair than any other, this includes brand new tools that the motors blew up the first day out of the package


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