Best drill for the money?????

[Mudder]

I need a drill. The old dewalt 12 volt is caput. Just doesn't have it anymore. Son-in-law has a craftsman that he really likes and it's a 18 volt. he says I should get the newer one, I think it is 19 something volt.

What do you all have? Good, bad, and I do take price into consideration.

[Tater]

I have 2 craftsman 19.2 volt drills,and love them.I think they're 19.2 anyway.I've also had good luck with Black an Decker drills

[leddzepp]

I have the 19.2 Craftsman. It works great...until the battery runs out. I have a corded 3/8 drill that I bought from Harbor Freight years ago. It takes a lickin, and keeps on tickin. IIRC it was about $12.

[Sub-versive]

Dewalt 18v.
Batteries are interchangeable with all 18v Dewalt tools, and there are lots of them.
The best price deal is to buy it in a kit, best bang for the buck.
And you don't have to buy into the lithium ion hype(overpriced cr@p)

I have owned a Crapsman 18v drill, it worked OK, but batteries were harder to obtain. Though Ryobi batts would work with it.
I also own Milwaukie cordless tools, and actually prefer the V28 set, but it is more expensive.

[Sillyoldman]

I kind of have a drill fetish. I own...

1 makita 9.6
2 dewalt 9.6
1 skil 9.6
3 ryobi 9.6
1 B&D 7.someting
1 12v no name

Someday I'll upgrade to higher volt tools. I have a charging rack for them so they are always fresh.

[Mudder]

Great info and keep it coming. Thanks

[GOPAPA]

My son has the Makita 24 volts set and If I buy another it will be the 24 volts for sure , It doesn't have to be Makita nessasarily but 24 volt is stronger and last longer .
Plus the hammer/ power drill will put screws in and take them out like you never done before.

[Tater]

Originally Posted by Mudder

I need a drill. The old dewalt 12 volt is caput. Just doesn't have it anymore. Son-in-law has a craftsman that he really likes and it's a 18 volt. he says I should get the newer one, I think it is 19 something volt.

What do you all have? Good, bad, and I do take price into consideration.

You should see if there's a Dewalt service center in your area.You might be able to get your drill fixed for cheap

[Mudder]

it works the batteries are just done. I don't wanna pay the price they want for new ones.

[Tater]

I don't know if the batteries are interchangable,but Black an Decker owns Dewalt.It might be something to look into if you want to save a few bucks on batteries.

[jhwkns]

I've got a Hitachi 18v. I'm happy with it. The lithium batteries are very lightweight, and the ergonomics are great. It's real comfortable to use. I picked it up at Lowes for around $130.

[BarryB]

I've been using the Ryobi stuff for several years. 18v kits. I have no complaints. The batteries seem to hold up relatively well. I use them daily for home remodeling, and various jobs I do. Plus they have a slew of other tools. Ryobi offers the 18v cordless vacuum. It is great.
and the impast driver is also great.
The price is reasonable also.

[vectorit]

I stoped buying Craftsman power tools, since I have had bad luck with them just burning out.

I don't buy battery powered tools anymore, since they just don't work for me and I am tired of dead batteries.

Currently have a cordded Dewalt drill, it's the lower end model but it works great for me.

[fastwillie 696969]

my x wife says i was one hell of a drill
she also said "i had one small dull bit"

[cdowns]

i've given up the cordlees drills because i just dont use them enough to justify the expence// i've got a heavy duty dewalt3/8 and a few blackndeckers as well as my drill presses plus loads of evtension cords//then i also have 2 airdrills too

[special-K]

Milwaukee Magnum AC 1/2".For cordless I run Dewalts because they are good enough and are everywhere.You can always grab another battery.The thing with cordless is you might as well buy a new tool when the battery dies,It`s only a little more.Do not buy a tool combo pack.You only get one changer and don`t even get a battery for every tool,as well as no individual case.I see these suitcases that hold a combo that can`t fit in a tool box screamin`for a trip to the hock shop.

[WorkinLonghorn]

The Ryobi 12V at Home Depot is $39.95 and comes with an extra battery. I screwed a 40 foot fence together with mine without a re-charge.

[LONGHAIR]

For the money, it is really hard to beat Makita Lithium Ion drills and drivers.
I work in a commercial cabinet shop and use mine constantly. I'm a bit like SOM, I have several.
For the average guy, the "white" (lower amperage) 18volt units are great. They have the same motors, body castings, and chargers an the higher end models. They just have a smaller battery. It has the same amount of power, they just don't last run as long as the bigger ones. They last plenty long though, plus the charger only takes 15 minutes to get them going again.

As a side note, you can usually get the drill and impact driver as a set for around $200, sometimes less. If you are driving screws, not just drilling, an impact driver is a life saver. They work like a miniature version of an "impact gun" for removing bolts/nuts, not pounding like a hammer drill. They not only drive screws with less torque feed-back to your hand, they do it with far less battery drain than driving screws with a drill.

I drive hundreds of screws in a day's time and these are the ones I use. They are lightweight, tough, powerful, and stand up to a commercial environment...even though they are not designed for that.

I have had the older (higher amp version) in the complete kit form, since they were first introduced nearly 5 years ago. The original batteries are still going strong. In the last year or so, I have added the lower amp drill and driver pair to the collection. As I said before they are great.

SOM, I have you beat in the addiction though
Makita 18v blue Hammerdrill
Makita 18v blue impact
Makita 18v white drill
Makita 18v white impact
Bosch pocket driver 12v
Bosch Impactor 12v
Bosch drill 12v
Bosch I-driver

With the exception of the I driver and the hammerdrill, I use them all every day. Each has a specific bit and therefore function, but that is more than over-board for the average guy.

Sorry, kinda long, but I hope it helps.

[70 shorty]

My Dewalt 12V XRP does fine. I use it for work, not just around the house. For the work i do, I don't see the need for an 18V. while it's not my line of work, I've had no trouble driving large deck screws. I will say several of the guys I work with have the Hitachi 18V and they are much lighter than my Dewalt.

[shifty]

i finally bought myself a nice Dewalt corded drill recently and ditched the Craftsman that my dad handed down to me 20yrs ago when I hit my teen years.

In the cordless realm, I've used and owned a ton of different ones - B&D, Ryobi, Makita - I've gone through three Ryobis at this point. I've used a lot of other people's tools, including Hitachi, Rigid and Milwaukee (never a Dewalt cordless, except my impact hammer, which i love). By far, the best I ever touched was a Bosch unit. Recently, I helped a neighbor run some hose up the side of his house to his back deck and he had one of those Bosch I-drivers.... man, that thing was friggin sweet. I hate to know what he paid for it though.

[my67chevytruck]

I have a 18 v milwaukee li-ion and love it....

[big_al_71]

Originally Posted by GOPAPA

My son has the Makita 24 volts set and If I buy another it will be the 24 volts for sure , It doesn't have to be Makita nessasarily but 24 volt is stronger and last longer .
Plus the hammer/ power drill will put screws in and take them out like you never done before.

+1 on Makita products!!!!!



Also great luck with Dewalt ....

[robin58]

Makita's are awesome. I have one that's 20+ years old and still performs great.

As for the DeWalt 12V battery being "dead", a DW Rep told me years ago that in many cases you can get away with putting a bigger battery in.

Top of the line would probably be something like a Bosch 36V but that's high $$$ (close to 6 bills).

I'm old fashioned though, I much prefer corded drills over cordless.

[GOPAPA]

One more thing is that I experince with my dewalt is that the battery is hard to get off some times as it wont release.. Being a retired construcution worker that worked with many guys on many different jobs and types of jobs I can tell you that many of the workers stated this same problem,, Just a bunch of guys opinions but it is a bunch of guys and not jsut me ..

[Stocker]

Mrs Stocker bought me a 14.4V Milwaukee VSR some years ago, no doubt out-of-date but it's still a very good drill. Came with 2 batteries (& a quick charger) so there's always a fresh one.... power is good and it has a hammer-drill setting too. And you can set it down without it tipping over....