How did you choose your "battery platform"?

[mvusse]

Production use in a cabinet shop we used Makita 12V cordless drills. This was back in 1994. The drills lasted fine, but the batteries didn't last more than a few years. Eventually that style battery was discontinued, then the chargers were. Mind you, my father had a 7.2V Makita bought in 1997, and both batteries for it still live to this day. Just underpowered to be really useful.

But back on topic, I switched to PC. 12V, bought 5 of them. Same problem as Makita, the drills were fine, but the batteries didn't more than a few years. Then the batteries were discontinued. Nothing wrong with the drills, just can't get batteries for them anymore.

That was about 15 years ago. Replaced them with DeWalt. Two refurbished 14.4V ones, and 5 new 12V ones. Both batteries use the same charger, and the 12V (XRP) batteries fit the 14,4V drills, although with a bit lower performance. All drills are still fine, all but one charger still good, and still have 8 or 9 good batteries (out of the original 14).

No longer have the cabinet shop, and at this rate I'm expecting those batteries to outlast me. If I ever do need another one I will go DeWalt again, but in the lithium flavor.

 

[Iluvbeer]

Years ago I took a position working in quarries and mines and with that I got a company truck and a company credit card and was told to buy whatever tools I needed at any time to do my job. I kinda went overboard over the years buying tools. If they made it in cordless, I bought it. I had grown up around Dewalts so that just what I bought and owned every cordless dewalt made, still do pretty much. But times have changed and Milwaukee makes a great product with a better offering of the types of cordless tools I like. so, I’m now in the process of building up a nice Milwaukee collection.

 

[jherb10]

At work, I use my Snap-On 14.4 volt for the smaller stuff, Ingersoll Rand 20volt for the larger stuff.

At home, I have the Dewalt 18 volt, plus the adapter for the 20 volt battery.

For automotive work at home, I use Milwaukee M12. Sometimes the Ingersoll stuff follows me home if I know I have a big job going on.

John

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I just got back into cordless tools after a long hiatus. I went Milwaukee because of tool selection geared towards mechanics. I think Makita makes the best "construction" tools, but their lineup lacks for my uses. AvE videos are really eye opening when comparing brands.

I won't ever buy DeWalt (anything); I can still remember the piles of broken DeWalt tools at the hardware store I worked at in college.....garbage. We hardly warrantied other brands, but Dewalt **** piled up.

 

[timdgsr]

18v makita and 12v milwaukee for me.

I like the fact that Makita has been the same company since inception (over 100 years). There has been no selling out to mega conglomerates. They focus on quality and still make reliable and dependable tools. They have a huge 18v lineup.

Milwaukee has the best 12v setup in my mind, and I mainly bought into it for the ratchets. I like the drill/impact just fine, but I do find them awkwardly shaped. I’ll probably end up with a stubby impact, stapler, and a few other tools before it’s all said and done. Bosch 12v was a contender, but I don’t like figuring out american vs. international tools (I get enough of that with Makita), and theres no great place to buy them locally. They seem to care more about other markets than about the American market.

I think it’s funny reading about how some folks don’t like certain companies based on old battery performance. Did anyone make a 7v nicd battery that wasn’t ****?

In the end I think all the bigger brands make fine tools. I’d be happy in dewalt because the flexvolt stuff is nice. Milwaukee is right there with the larger battery packs and adding new cordless tools constantly. Metabo/Hitachi will be exciting to see if they start putting out a consistent lineup. Ryobi has great tool selection and seem to be a good value.