Wow! Thanks so much for all the great suggestions. Most helpful!
For you guys with the impact drivers, do you ever use the impact on stubborn screws when the bit is wanting to jump/spin in the screw head? I frequently drive 3 inch screws. I don't know if the new #2 bits are made out of lousy metal these days or what but it seems like after about 6 screws the bit will start to slip and then gets progressively worse until I need to toss it. I have to really lean into the screws sometimes. Just wondering when you would typically use the impact feature.
I drive screws all day the impact feature makes a huge difference
I work in/on large commercial jobs and have worked construction for the last 25 years
I use a lot of corded tools for work/home,
but I also use a lot of cordless stuff at work/home too
Most of the stuff I use at work is company supplied (so it gets very very abused) none of the guys give a **** about taking care of tools since the company will just buy new ones if they break
With that said at work we use mostly Dewalt 18vt products,
They are heavy, the batteries take a long time to charge and they are/feel clunky in your hands,
but they are pretty durable the guys at work just beat the **** out of them an they keep going.
I think the thing I dislike most about Dewalt there's no belt hooks on the tools so you have to set them down somewhere if you need both hands and that can be a pain when your framing a soffit off of a lift 25 feet in the air.
They do weigh a lot too after 8 hours of it in your hand you know it.
Lately we have been switching over to Makita products and the new Makita products are very very nice,
Compact, light weight, fast battery charges, very powerful and they most all have a belt hook of some sort
The only bad side to the Makita products is the price, they are pretty expensive on the scale of cordless tools
At home/side jobs all I use is Ryobi products when I first started buying Ryobi products price was my only concern but...
I've had no complaints with Ryobi products, Some of my Ryobi is 10 years old at this point
I started buying the Lithion Sets last year when they were introduced because HomeDepo/Ryobi had some ridiculous intro sales
The Ryobi Lithon Batteries do charge faster than the reg batts and they are lighter but that's about it, at 80$ a battery (Lithion) vs 40$ for 2 (Reg)
I don't know that it's worth the upgrade unless you can get a deal on a set
No belt hook on Ryobi stuff either that's about the one thing that bothers me
Sorry to ramble so in review
Dewalt 18vt- Heavy, Clunky in hands, Large, No belt hook,
Expensive, Replacement batteries expensive, Very durable
Makita 18vt- Light, Feels great in hand, Small, Has a Belt hook
On the end of more/most Expensive, Replacement batteries expensive, Haven't used them long enough for durabilty
Ryobi 18vt- Medium weight, Feels good in hands, Fairly small, No belt hook
Inexpensive, Replacement Batteries inexpensive, Very durable
Ryobi 18vt Lithion- Light, Feels good in hands, Fairly small, No belt hook
Mid range price, Replacement batteries expensive, Very durable
too.) Hands down the best drill I've ever owned. The batteries last a long time and they charge super quick. I'm looking to get a matching small circ saw for little jobs.
I love my Makita