Thoughts on Hitachi Cordless

[xs650shawn]

Been thinking of replacing my cordless Makita drill and impact, as they are going on 10 years old, and battery life isn't what it used to be. Other than that, still work great and have no complaints. My local OSH has one hell of a promotion going on Hitachi cordless right now. 18v drill/driver (non-hammer) and impact for $99.99 with two batteries. Also have an 18v cordless grinder for $49.99, bare tool only. Only downfall is no paddle switch. Each is roughly 40% off. I've used Hitachi nailers in the past and love them. Never used their cordless electrics. Bear in mind I'm a homeowner and hobbyist, so I don't use them every day. Any opinions?

 

[kythri]

Are they clearing them out before the brand name change?

 

[American Locomotive]

If your Makita drill and impact are the old first-gen LXT 18v lithium stuff, you can still use the new batteries on them with a simple 1 minute mod to the tools.

 

[Voi]

I just switched from Hitachi to Makita primarily due to Makita's greater selection of yard tools.

If impact & drill are your primary tools then I can tell you I prefer the trigger on my 8+ year old Hitachi impact although I do really like my new Makita stuff better overall.

By the way, Makita is including a discontinued brushless cordless angle grinder in some of their kits. It has a paddle switch & I picked up a couple of them. Very happy with them.

If you can use the new batteries in your current tools & need a cordless angle grinder & prefer paddle then I'd really look into that.

 

[xs650shawn]

Only reason I was really looking was because of the grinder. Looked at them again today, batteries are 1.3A/H, I think my old Makitas are 1.5. Drill is just that, a drill. My old Makita is a drill/clutch/hammer driver. Still, for the price, I can barely buy new batteries for mine.

 

[tarbellb]

Hitachi is generally considered a good price to performance line of tools. Typically on the mid tier of quality and features, but offer several performance levels.

Its important to know which line you are buying, they offer drills that imo easily compete with Milwaukee/Makia/Dewalt/Bosch. But just like those others, the lower end models arent as nice.

I bought into their original 18v Lithium-ion drill and impact w/ the older slide battery. It was excellent, drilled 1000's of holes, many of which in steel plate. Replaced those with the newer 20v Dewalt bottom tier drill and impact and immediately felt like I lost some quality. Sold the Dewalt 20v for Mil Fuel line and love them.

Bottomline, Hitachi offers a good product at a fantastic price, and very good warranty. Limited tool lineup and potential issues with the upcoming Hitachi name change could be a deciding factor?

Double check your local sale to these guys- www.bigskytool.com