Recommend me a cordless drill

[fiveoh]

I've owned a 12V dewalt for 6-7 years and it has worked flawlessly. Not one single problem yet. However my last battery now only holds a charge for 1-2 mins so I went online to purchase a new one. $50!!! I'd rather buy a new drill than spend $50 on a battery.

Anyway I have $100 in amazon gc so I'd like some suggestions on the best cordless drill on amazon for approx $100.

Thanks!

 

[boiler7904]

Is that $100 total or $100 on top of your $100 gift card?

Are you likely to want other cordless tools on the same battery platform? If so, DeWalt and Makita offer the most tools. Definitely something to consider if you're buying into a new battery platform.

If you're going to being driving a lot of screws, you might want to look for a cordless drill & cordless impact driver kit.

I've used DeWalt NiCad drills and own a Bosch NiCad drill and a couple of Makita Lithium Ion drills. Makita is my favorite by far. Only problem with Lithium Ion is that the batteries don't like cold weather.

 

[mewisemagic]

dewalt drill on sale at lowes for $99

 

[american lockpicker]

Swiss made Bosch 18V.

 

[fiveoh]

Is that $100 total or $100 on top of your $100 gift card?

Are you likely to want other cordless tools on the same battery platform? If so, DeWalt and Makita offer the most tools. Definitely something to consider if you're buying into a new battery platform.

If you're going to being driving a lot of screws, you might want to look for a cordless drill & cordless impact driver kit.

I've used DeWalt NiCad drills and own a Bosch NiCad drill and a couple of Makita Lithium Ion drills. Makita is my favorite by far. Only problem with Lithium Ion is that the batteries don't like cold weather.

I can do up to 200 but I'd prefer less of course. I wouldn't mind getting other cordless tools as well. I'll look into makita. Cold weather is not a problem in texas. How much are the drill and impact driver kits? I work on cars occasionally so I'd love to have an impact.

 

[ZRX61]

 

[GoBlue]

lol...lets not get amish! I would go for a Makita with a lithium ion battery. One of our techs just got one in a kit that came with a 1/4 impact and its totally awesome. Great power, battery life, and compact.

 

[back2class]

royobi 100% for sure. I would eat up a dewaltt 14v unit in about a year when I was a contractor. Real ****! If you got that long out of that thing, then either buy new batteries or get a 18v royobi from HD for $70 with two batteries. I no longer am a pro contractor, but I've had mine for 5 years and use it hard....100% certain that these royobis are better in all respects than that dewalt you had. Having owned and abused both the royobi is a clear winner in quality and price. Trust me on this one! I hate **** tools and would not recomend it if it were not a great deal.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I've owned a 12V dewalt for 6-7 years and it has worked flawlessly. Not one single problem yet. However my last battery now only holds a charge for 1-2 mins so I went online to purchase a new one. $50!!! I'd rather buy a new drill than spend $50 on a battery.

Anyway I have $100 in amazon gc so I'd like some suggestions on the best cordless drill on amazon for approx $100.

Thanks!

I had a DeWalt 14.4 that lasted FOREVER. When the battery finally died I didn't want to spend the cash either so I bought a cheap Home Depot Ryobi - mistake! Lasted about a year and the battery charger started giving me trouble. I went to buy another DeWalt but ended up buying a Milwaukee 18v Lithium Ion and since I ran into the factory rep he gave me a GREAT deal and I ended up with 3 batteries and a boxed set of drills with a separate boxed set of nut crivers and tips. It is a GREAT drill driver. Totally happy with it.

 

[arizonaadam]

I love makita and it's never let me down. Unfortunately, the latest lithium cordless is getting mixed reviews. Frankly, 50 for a new battery will buy you two years, right?

 

[oldgoat]

A lithium battery would be the main requirement without a doubt. Then it gets a little harder. Do you want a lot of power or is it going to be for fairly light duty work? I have a PC 12V lithium which I like although I'm not impressed with the impact driver. Runs down the battery fairly fast. A friend say the Bosch 12v is pretty good also. I like them because they are lighter and will get into smaller places than the older ones.

 

[lonestarky]

Personally, I prefer the Hitachi cordless tools. They're fantastic. Perfect weight and balance. I usually don't buy anything bigger than 12V cordless. Bigger than that, and I just break out the corded hammer drill or corded tools.

Hitatchi drill/drivers, impacts, and air tools are all of extremely high quality, IMHO.

 

[shampoop]

I have a 18V lithium ion Makita impact driver and LOVE IT! The power, control, battery life, ergonomics, everything. I've used it for the past year as a mechanic and it has been amazing. I would not hesitate for a second to buy the the drill version, or one of the 12v versions. I also would not hesitate to buy a milwaukee.

If you plan on owning more than one cordless tool, I would definitely go with makita or milwaukee.

 

[RangerDaleXp]

I was a Makita fan 25 years ago but have used dewalts ever since. The only thing I hate is the cost of batteries and there short life expectancy. I must have 12 18v batteries that are bad and looking into having them rebuilt......

About 12 years ago, Ryobi made a contractor grade gun that I beat the hell out of and worked for 4 hard years till it took a dive in a giant warehouse freezer building and broke into 16 pieces. I did an autopsy on it and it had a johnson motor with all steel planetary gears. I did go to by another one but Ryobi quit making them.......

 

[KnurledNut]

our crew uses 3 makita 18v LI impacts and 2 drills. the impacts are THE BEST ive ever seen and used. we bought the impacts when they were first released and they are still going strong! (construction abuse-screw after screw). i dropped one from 20 ft and it broke in half and after a hose clamp to hold it together, it worked fine until we got the replacement housing. and their batteries are one of the best out there right now (many will agree). they do have a shorter life, but runtime is incredible and they hold their charge. regarding the drills, the drill driver is decent, but the hammerdrill is built better.

our dewalt 18v nicad hammerdrill has been troublefree.

milwaukee is tough as nails. bosch is strong.

hitachi tools are good if you buy the professional grade and not the bigbox offerings.

panasonic has an excellent impact driver as well. (its a little less known about)

and this last tidbit: for everyones sake, stay away from anything that says project pro!

 

[Danglerb]

Search a bit harder, third parties sell good or better than original batteries for 12v Dewalt tools for $30 or less.

 

[MattPersman]

I have had this set beating the **** out of it for about 2 years http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DNMUZG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

they make a drill you can add on as well or just buy a chuck for the other 2 tools (what I did from Snap On)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FDRDHG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

they are small, very good battery life, good power. I even caught the impact on fire (oops) it started to melt some but I put it out and it still works to this day

 

[RKA]

+1 happy Makita 18v users here, for about 4-5 years (when did they first introduce them?). Pretty much agree with everything KnurledNut said about them with exception to the short lifespan. If you don't heat them up working them hard, they'll last a long time. I'm still on the original batteries I got with the impact driver many years ago and they work great! I've added many tools since then. The saws are usually the ones that put high demands on the batteries and get them good n hot if you use for more than a quickie cut. Hammer drill is nice as well. I'm sure there are better ones out there, but I want one battery system and it's got more than enough punch for my needs. For light duty use I have the drill and impact driver from the Bosch 12v line. The drill has more runout than I consider acceptable, but the impact driver is awesome.

 

[ekuhn]

+15 just bought the 18v Li-Ion set from Makita and I love it.

 

[fiveoh]

Search a bit harder, third parties sell good or better than original batteries for 12v Dewalt tools for $30 or less.

I saw these but I figured they weren't as good as a dewalt battery and wouldnt last as long or have as much power. Have you used them before?


Makita 18v li ion seems to be the most popular so im leaning heavily towards that one.

 

[JDM5LugHatch]

I have a Milwaukee 18v Lithium and absolutely love it. At work we have a Milwaukee 14.4 that's probably over 10 years old and it's still kicking no problems. I owned a dewalt and wasn't impressed at all. They just feel cheap and well mine didn't last long at all (I barely used it too).

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[Mr Ratchet]

I had a Makita 14.4 for years. It kept on going and I replaced two battries through the years. Last year when my last battery was pretty much done, I decided to get a new drill instead of repacing more batteries.

I looked at another Makita 18v and almost went with it. In the end I went with a Milwaukee 18v. Both are pretty much the same quality and spec wise. They both are smaller and lighter than my 14.4 I was replacing. I could not get over the added power the new one had over my older one.

The Makita and Milwaukee are the what I would go with first with the second group with a similar Bosh or Hitachi and the thrid would be a Dewalt or Porter Cable.

Here's the Makita and Milwaukee models.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[tmoneyr007]

I LOVE my Hitachi Impact

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200416901_200416901

 

[gnx547]

dewalt drill on sale at lowes for $99

What model? I went to Lowes today and I did not see any on sale.

 

[Danglerb]

I saw these but I figured they weren't as good as a dewalt battery and wouldnt last as long or have as much power. Have you used them before?

Pick a seller with a good reputation and warranty, or use a local rebuilder. Give them a good workout right away.

I haven't used any for the DeWalt, but have used other batteries for other tools and devices, and its a mixed bag. Cells that they build batteries out of have both improved and gotten cheaper, but a lot of looks ok is actually junk inside is still sold on the cheap end.

So far my experience is that "bad" ones are weak right out of the box. Its normal with some new batteries for the capacity to increase over the first few cycles (nicads), but the bad ones stayed bad, and good ones started pretty good and got better.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Pay the extra for NiMh. They don't self-discharge like Nicad when sitting around.

 

[5lima30]

I've got an 18v Hitachi that is almost 5 years old that I have used very hard. It's about due for batteries. I recently bought the Hitachi Li-On 12v drill and impact driver set w/ tool bag for $159- 10% retired military discount. I have been very impressed with the vesatilty of this set! The 12v impact driver will out drive any of the conventional 18v drill/ drivers. I've been using it on a locust rail fence I have been building. It drives 3" screws into locust posts which are much harder than oak effortlessly! YMMV.

 

[southalabama]

If using a Dewalt use a XRP batteries, the batteries they typically sell with the drill are junk. They stick them on the drill to lower the price point.

 

[onemore]

DeWalt 18 v lithium Ion hammer drill, on sale at sears 199. Ni

 

[oldwino]

I have a Milwaukee 18v Lithium and absolutely love it. At work we have a Milwaukee 14.4 that's probably over 10 years old and it's still kicking no problems. I owned a dewalt and wasn't impressed at all. They just feel cheap and well mine didn't last long at all (I barely used it too).

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Had several 18v dewalt's and frankly, not impressed. Batteries don't hold a charge for long, and tool just seems underpowered. Even though it is Made in China, I love the new Milwaukee M-18's. Smooth, powerful and great battery life.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have no problem with my Dewalt 18V stuff. I had one battery that I thought was getting weak. I emailed Dewalt, they asked for the date code on the battery, after me sending it to them, they sent me out a new battery.

 

[shannonw]

Man you guys are old school

this is the new shiznit in labor saving drills

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

lol

Anyways i'm looking for a new cordless drill/driver too, my 18v rigid x2 hammer finally used it's last electrons today, it was good i've dropped it in salt water and taken it apart and washed and greased it even. But frankly i'm glad to see it go, the 18v nicad was heavier than **** and i despised using it since day 1 however it had plenty of torque! I'm going to go with a basic 12-14v and leave the serious stuff up to the makita corded one. Though i understand the li-ion are a lot lighter than the nicads were.

 

[srode]

Rigid has at least one drill with a life time warranty including the batteries - Got one for my Dad on sale from Home Depot for $149 on black Friday last year - very nice drill kit.

 

[Rickster]

Whatever you get go with a Lith-Ion battery, I find them to be far and away better than the NiCads.