Bought A New Drill Today, Is It Any Good?

[Blonk]

Only 2 cordless drills worth buying.

Hilti, Metabo and Makita (in that order)

Make sure you get at least 2.0 aH batteries or they take ages to charge and dont hold it for very long...

[rs2000]

  Blonk said:

Only 2 cordless drills worth buying.

Hilti, Metabo and Makita (in that order)

Make sure you get at least 2.0 aH batteries or they take ages to charge and dont hold it for very long...

imo, I'd put dewalt before makita in the cordless range....I also have the b & d you're referring to and the only problem I've seen is the plastic surrounding where the battery slides in can't take much abuse and has a tendency to crack.

cheers

[tmac450]

The B & D drills are about the best of the 'budget' brands and will do any home handyman.

B & D owns Dewalt and they use many of the same components in their cordless drills. The major differences being nylon gears in the B & D vs metal in the Dewalts and Ni Cad batteries vs Ni MH (same motors).

I got the 18v B & D and is is compariable in power with the Dewalt, but it doesn't stay charged for as long, and will not cop as much punnishment.

[turtle33]

I buy dewalt only because of the range and the $ you save by buying from the US. That said the best corless drills are panasonic lit-ion but $600+ they are the top of the range. For doing doors etc, the makita impact screwdriver 7.2v li is awsome but its only a screw driver and its about $170. To be used for work everyday, u really should budget to replace cordless stuff every year (as soon as the warrenty runs out mine are in the trading post for cash as you can write off any tools under $1000 in a year). But as far as the firstorm stuff being any good, I never used one so I have no clue but that said I cant recall seeing one on site.

[turtle33]

  tmac450 said:

The B & D drills are about the best of the 'budget' brands and will do any home handyman.

B & D owns Dewalt and they use many of the same components in their cordless drills. The major differences being nylon gears in the B & D vs metal in the Dewalts and Ni Cad batteries vs Ni MH (same motors).

I got the 18v B & D and is is compariable in power with the Dewalt, but it doesn't stay charged for as long, and will not cop as much punnishment.

on ebay you can get 3ah 18v dewalt batt's for $75, buy one or two they hold there charge really well. It will tranform the drill.

[turtle33]

  rs2000 said:

imo, I'd put dewalt before makita in the cordless range....I also have the b & d you're referring to and the only problem I've seen is the plastic surrounding where the battery slides in can't take much abuse and has a tendency to crack.

cheers

the li-ion range (lxt) from makita is streets ahead of dewalt. I own both, the li stuff is lighter, stronger last longer and charge in 15 mins, that said they cost heaps more though.

[rs2000]

  turtle33 said:

the li-ion range (lxt) from makita is streets ahead of dewalt. I own both, the li stuff is lighter, stronger last longer and charge in 15 mins, that said they cost heaps more though.

I too have a number of makita tools including the cordless impact driver (great unit) but was fortunate enough to pick up a 7 piece 18v dewalt combo set at a great price from the states years ago and to date have only had to replace battery's....so each to there own I suppose.

cheers

[Guest]

Most of my cordless tools are Atlas Copco or dewalt (All 18volts), iv'e heard the new makita range is supposed to be fairly good but im not going to bother changing now as iv'e never had an issues with either brand. This gear gets used alot, has been dropped from height, dropped in water and the likes and is still running as goo das the day I bought it.

I don't bother with anything under 18v, this way all the batts are the same.

[tmac450]

  turtle33 said:

I buy dewalt only because of the range and the $ you save by buying from the US. That said the best corless drills are panasonic lit-ion but $600+ they are the top of the range. For doing doors etc, the makita impact screwdriver 7.2v li is awsome but its only a screw driver and its about $170. To be used for work everyday, u really should budget to replace cordless stuff every year (as soon as the warrenty runs out mine are in the trading post for cash as you can write off any tools under $1000 in a year). But as far as the firstorm stuff being any good, I never used one so I have no clue but that said I cant recall seeing one on site.

Probably because they're specified 'home use only' and trade work voids the warranty.

As I said, they're great for the home handyman, but constant, hard everyday use will soon burn the gears out.

[XR6T8080]

using a drill once to drill a hole, doesnt tell you much, constant use over a 6 month period, that gives you an idea.

  Laner said:

seriously though....have you used it yet?? is it any good?