Porter Cable or Rockwell cordless drill?

[Nez02]

I received two cordless drills as gifts and I’m not sure which one to keep. It’s between the Porter Cable 20v max or the Rockwell 18v. Which one would you prefer and why?

https://www.rockwelltools.com/en-US/18v_lithium_drill_driver.aspx

http://www.portercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=28551

 

[neophyte]

I would keep the Porter Cable due to te compact size. The Rockwell looks big. The only thing about the Rockwell that sounded better was the charging time, and the Porter Cable page doesn't have that listed so I can't actually say whether the Porter Cable charging time is actually worse.

 

[Nez02]

On the porter cable box it says 45 rockwell is 30. The rockwell also has a lifetime warranty on the batteries.

 

[doan]

Porter cable is basically a Dewalt with a slower charger. Dewalt, PC, and black & decker are all the same. feature's increase as you spend more. You can also add tools to the PC line.

Rockwell's battery warranty is by mail, $20 for shipping....

 

[jjjrmx5]

The rockwell also has a lifetime warranty on the batteries.

NO.

Ridgid tools has free lifetime battery warranty. Not Rockwell. Rockwell requires a "built In " fee when sending back.

I;d take both back and buy Bosch, Milwaukee or Makita. If on a budget, then Hitachi.

Both Porter Cable and Rockwell are just former shells of themselves shilling the commonly made battery tools at mid to semi-low end levels.
Support and batteries years out will be next to none.

Caveat emptor.

 

[Uncle Ben]

I have an 18v Porter Cable LiIon that I've owned for about a year and I have really enjoyed it. I have have two drills and one impact driver that all use the same batteries. I moved up from an old Makita NiCad, so it was a big step up, and I can't really compare to Rockwell or other brands, but I definitely like the sound of the battery warranty that others mentioned.

I do realize that when these batteries start to die I will most likely just have to start over with a whole new set up drills/impact, and that is discouraging, so next time I will probably shop brands around more, but as far as the power, weight, features, I am very happy with the porter cable 18 volts that I have.

 

[WWIIjeep]

Both Porter Cable and Rockwell are just former shells of themselves shilling the commonly made battery tools at mid to semi-low end levels.
Support and batteries years out will be next to none.

Caveat emptor.

Worse than that, the "Rockwell" that is now shilling portable power tools via television infomercials is owned by a Chinese company in Hong Kong called Positec and has absolutely no relation to the former Rockwell company that owned Delta from the 1940s to the 80s, Porter-Cable in the 1960s and 70s and North American Rockwell, the company that helped put man on the moon in 1969.

Caveat emptor most certainly.

Porter-Cable is still American-owned, by Stanley Black & Decker, but within the past few years, they've discontinued most of the industrial-quality power tools they were once noted for.

 

[Nez02]

Thanks for all the info. What makita and Milwaukee drills would you recommend? The reason I liked the rockwell was the warranty on the batteries. And the fact that my uncle who is a contractor and uses his rockwell daily hasn't had a problem yet in 3 years. The porter cable seems identical to the dewalt and uses the same power rating system.

Have you guys had bad personal experiences with the rockwells?

 

[Nez02]

And where's the best place to get them?