cordless drill / impact

[Z71]

I was thinking about purchasing a new cordless drill / impact combo.
Thinking about getting the makita 18V set. Anybody have this set ??
If not , my choices were dewalt , makita or ridgid !!
Any comments or ideas ???

 

[Rigmaster]

I have the Makita 12v impact (non Li-Ion type) and it's AWESOME!!

SOOOOOO much better than any drill/driver I've ever used. It's relatively small and light and well balanced.

You can use it to drill small holes in the wall, or whatever, and it has tons of torque to tighten or loosen all types of fasteners. Battery life is excellent, and I've heard that the Li-Ion type has even better battery life.


Rig

 

[kartracer55]

Been quite happy with my Dewalt 18v stuff. Holding up great, I have the cordless XRP non hammer drill and the smaller 18v 1/2 drive impact.

 

[Crawlin]

Makita 18volt LI Ion set is on my christmas list FWIW. Can't wait!

 

[zuspiel]

You might also want to check out the smaller ones. I've been really impressed with the Hitachi I bought a couple of weeks ago. See the thread here.

 

[boiler7904]

Depending on it's intended use, some of the small sets might work just as well for you.

The brands you mentioned should all work well. I wouldn't count out Bosch, Milwaukee, or Panasonic yet.

Steer clear of Ridgid. Nobody backs the warranty on them. One of the members here went through hell earlier this year on a warranty claim. Single source availability doesn't help either.

 

[X1 Mike]

Hi,

First post after lurking for a while, I bought the 18v Li Ion about 1 month ago and am thrilled with it. Set came with 3/8" impact, 1/2" drill, and a flashlight along with some throw in swag (t-shirt, coffee cup, mechanix gloves, and playing cards) I had the 14.4 v and can really tell the difference both in power and battery life.



http://www.makita.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?ID=26272

 

[Z71]

Hey
Thanks for the info.
I was looking at the Makita 18V compact drill / impact combo, the white and black ones. Man they are small but I have read that they have battery issues.
For the average user just around the house you would think that the set would be more than enough ??? Gonna have another look this weekend before I purchase . Still haven't ruled out Dewalt though, its hard to when my 12V worked so well for so many years. My 12V Dewalt is about 8 years old and its just getting really tired so I thought I would upgrade.

 

[Spookrider]

http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=15290

I really like this one, for the design of it. It is a one hand OP, plus you put weight behind what ever you are doing better than the "T" handle ones.

 

[NSXSOON]

+1 for the 18V Li Ion Makita set. Nice and compact, lightweight, powerful with super long battery life.

Just picked up a second pair of batteries at Home Depot yesterday (1.5 amp hr 2 pack for $69 and 3.0 amp hr 2 pack for $99). This is less than the price of the single pack of the same batteries sitting right next to them on the shelf, go figure. Turns out that HD is not going to sell the 2 packs any longer so there all on clearance until they are gone. The clearance prices are better than the lowest price available on EBay! Call or check out your local store if you are interested.

 

[Jbullfrog]

Hey
Thanks for the info.
I was looking at the Makita 18V compact drill / impact combo, the white and black ones. Man they are small but I have read that they have battery issues.
For the average user just around the house you would think that the set would be more than enough ??? Gonna have another look this weekend before I purchase . Still haven't ruled out Dewalt though, its hard to when my 12V worked so well for so many years. My 12V Dewalt is about 8 years old and its just getting really tired so I thought I would upgrade.

They don't have battery issues, but there is confussion with them. The black and white Makitas have smaller 1.5AH batteries versus the 3AH batteries on the same drill and impact in Makita green.

I bought the b&w set this summer and like the smaller battery for cabinet work. I picked up a set of the 3AH batteries on Ebay ($130) for bigger projects.

Looking at the parts sheets for the b&w's and the normal green makitas, they are identical and usually on sale. Just remember that the 1.5AH batteries last half as long as the 3AH. This is offset by the 15 minutes it takes to charge them.

I floored a 24 x 12 deck with with my impact and had to change batteries twice.

 

[Z71]

I made a choice and bought the MAKITA LXT217 Model.
I paid a few extra bucks and got the makita blue with the 3.0 batteries instead of the makita white with the 1.5 compact batteries. This set feels really good and compact with loads of torque. To make things even better when I was talking to the guy where I bought it he slipped me a new compact 1.5 battery for nothing and I know those aint cheap. So thats a 1/2 hammer drill/driver and 1/4 impact driver and 2- 3.0 batteries and 1- 1.5 battery.

 

[Jokeman]

I have the Ridgid 18v lith-ion set. Had it about a month and have zero complaints!

 

[jdcompman]

I have the Black and White 18v LI-ION drill and I absolutely love it. The battery life is wonderful. When finishing my basement I used a 1" spade bit in it for drilling over 100 holes before the battery needed charging. I hung drywall with it and could put in screws for hours at a time on one battery. I have also bought the same drill for my dad as well. You will not be disappointed by this drill.

 

[Jbullfrog]

If you haven't charged a battery yet, let me warn you. The charger is musical. It sounds like a cellular ringtone when the battery is done.