Bought A New Drill Today, Is It Any Good?

[XR6T8080]

That was sort of why I went with B & D, I knew they had something to do with dewalt, and I didnt want to spend a heap of cash (although I did have my eye on a makita combo corless pack on ebay for around $600)

  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.

[turtle33]

  rs2000 said:

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

the ni-mh stuff from makita isn't (in my opinion) as good as dewalt but the new lithium ion stuff is the ducks guts and as yet dewalt dont have a direct competor. Any of the impact drivers are simply miles ahead of a drill for driving/removing screws. 3 of us did a full iron roof (420m2) with 2 li-ion 3.5ah 15.6v panasonic impacts and 1 18v dewalt and were blown away with the ease in which they handled it.

[Antisocial]

I also have a mix of 18V Atlas Copco / AEG / Milwaukee (same drill different colour and brand) and Metabo all made in Germany.

As well as being tougher the batteries last longer and charge in 1/14th the time of the cheaper ones.

But I noticed AC/ AEG / Mke are now made in the Czech Rebpublic and Metabo sell cheaper PRC cordless combo kits, as well as still selling the more expensive German ones.

You can feel they are lighter duty with plastic rather than metal gears.

You get what you pay for...I started with what I thought was expensive Ryobi 12V $200 and it lasted about 2 years of very hard work, then I bought an 18V Atlas Copco $480 and still had it 4 years later so bought another Milwaukee one. Zillions of 100mm allen head screw into hardwood etc.

The same with grinders Ryobi $99 = 13 months

Bosch $129 = 18 months

Metabo $280 still going after 3 years so bought a second, (one for cutting and one for grinding) both still working 5 years later.

I am told Festool are the best...but for what you are using it for the B&D should be fine.

[Felix]

Plus, my personal preference goes to Hitachi... I have used their products for over 6 years, I had a 14.4v Drill that lasted me 5 years, would be still going if I didnt break it while having a common sense failure. I use it to rough in houses, 25mm auger bits through 4 studs no prob. I have now purchased a 18v Hitachi Combo, which has the Drill (inc. hammer), Sabre saw, Circ saw and lantern. 2 Li-on batts, I paid 600 bucks less then retail which I was pretty happy with $1070 all up. And is perfect for all my sparky work, I use the sabre and circ a dozen times a year, but they are great for taking up in the roof.

AEG is made in the same place as Milwaukee, my brother inlaw has a 24v li on Milwaukee combo kit, and those drills are HEAVY, handing of a 10m extension ladder with one arm at a right angle and full reach trying to drill holes is tough going. But it sure does go through anything.

Felix

[tab]

  Felix said:

while having a common sense failure.

[ford268]

the panasonic 18vs are the dead set fu***kn best. we have had all other brands and none have lasted or been as powerful as them however we still have some makitas that have been there for about 10years and are still working just. the batteries are the first thing to stuff up

[Blonk]

  ford268 said:

the panasonic 18vs are the dead set fu***kn best. we have had all other brands and none have lasted or been as powerful as them however we still have some makitas that have been there for about 10years and are still working just. the batteries are the first thing to stuff up

Like I said,

Hilti or Metabo or for budget Makita,

I got less than 12 months out of an 18 v Dewalt, and I only bought them because we got them in the kit with the sabre saw.

Some Hilti's I have had for 6 years and have copped and absolute flogging on large civil infrastructure jobs at the hands of some not so gentle workers, These things will still run a 14 gauge, type 17 screw into seasoned hardwood and yet postion and place an 8 gauge bugle head with the clutch realeasing perfectly into plasterboard. The metabo are about 4 years old and also cop daily heavy use.... They get a lot looser than the Hilti's faster but still work well..

The panasonic is the most uncomfortable, overpriced, awkward to use peice of crap that has ever been on the market. They were virtually the first cordless on the market back in the early 1980's and they havent improved much since.

The rest in my opinion is crap..!!!

I spent over $600,000-00 on small tools last year alone.... I know quality when I see it...........