Porter-Cable 20v difference between black and red batteries?

[wahoowad]

I'm shopping to add a Porter-Cable 20v impact driver to my arsenal of cordless 20V tools. I keep seeing some Porter-Cable tools/combo kits offered with the usual red LiON batteries, but also seeing some with a black battery. Any idea what (if anything) is different?

Here's an example - http://www.lowes.com/pd_520385-34252-PCCK604L2_0__?productId=50074325

 

[MrGiggles]

I bought that kit last year for 99.00, Black Friday special. I haven't had an issue with either tool, they both work great.

The red batteries are thicker and higher capacity than the black batteries included with the kit.

 

[LB-1911]

^ 20V max Li-ion batteries with 1.3-Ah cells

BATTERIES & CHARGERS
1.5-Ah & 4.0-Ah are red
http://www.portercable.com/20Volt

 

[pjboy]

bought the kit too 99bucks black batteries , one battery went bad , other than that nice impact/drill combo set .press on.

 

[Loscaldazar]

The drills, impact driver, and charger that come with the black batteries are also cheaper. They are longer, less powerful, and probably cheapened in other ways to make them cheap enough to do black friday deals with them. Buy only the kits with the red batteries.

Example:
The PCCK600LB which comes with red batteries has the following features
330 Unit Watts out of power
Battery Fuel Gauge
Metal ratcheting chuck
7-3/4 length
40 Minute Quick Charger and battery maintainer
2 Speed gearbox with 0-400 RPM and 0-1,600 RPM
1.5 AH batteris
Magnetic Bit Holders

The PCC601LB which comes with the black batteries has the following
283 Unit Watts Out of power
No battery fuel gauge
Chuck is just listed as a keyless chuck, not a metal one
8-1/4 inch long (1/2 an inch longer than the other one)
The black slow charger (can take between 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the battery being used)
2 speed gearbox with 0-350 RPM and 0-1,500 RPM
As well as smaller batteries (1.3AH)

The drill kits that come with red batteries are way better.

 

[wahoowad]

Well, I want the impact driver and right now only have 2 red batteries. They are a year old and I thought it might be worthwhile to pick up the impact driver with a battery but I can't find a decent deal on one.

The alternative is just the bare tool (no battery) on Amazon for $59.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Well, I want the impact driver and right now only have 2 red batteries. They are a year old and I thought it might be worthwhile to pick up the impact driver with a battery but I can't find a decent deal on one.

The alternative is just the bare tool (no battery) on Amazon for $59.

If you're patient the red battery kits drop down to $99 once or twice a year (lowes usually also drops to the same price for the red battery kits at the same time).

http://camelcamelcamel.com/PORTER-CABLE-PCCK640LB-20-volt-4-Inch-Lithium/product/B009JBBF0K

I bought the Red battery kit drill and the red battery kit impact driver separately off amazon for $99 each. For $200 I got 4 of the red batteries, two of the quick chargers and the higher quality drill and impact driver.

It's not super convenient to wait, but it's worth it!

 

[wahoowad]

****. Amazon has a $20 off $100+ on select Porter-Cable tools, but they exclude the Impact Driver + Battery tool! Bastards. It is $119 and I was hoping to get it for $99.

 

[wahoowad]

Man, I'm having a problem waiting for wanna-be Porter-Cable to give up a sale price to get this impact driver down to $99 when I see Home Depot has their popular Ryobi drill+impact driver+2 batteries kit on sale for $99 now. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-ON...r-and-Impact-Driver-Kit-2-Tool-P882/203406854

I can live with having 2 different battery series tool sets, especially when the LiON batteries now last so long. I have much less of a need to switch batteries to finish a project.

Any opinion on jumping over to the Ryobi line to complement my initial Porter-Cable set? The Ryobi line seems much more extensive. If I can find an additional home depot discount to get it even lower then this deal is done.