i sold my 12v dewalt to newb-brad last year.

my 18v set is rock solid.

when you shop for off-brand ones though, check the charge times. my dad got me a harbor freight cordless impact... FIVE HOUR CHARGE. i still haven't used it.

for anything heavy duty i just use my corded dewalt, i mean its not that big of a deal, and is a lot easier to manage then an air hose

i've never liked the dewalts i've had for work. makita guy. for home i just bought the 18v lithion ion Makita and it's awesome. i am sad when at work and using my standard Makita.

cost was like $200 though

http://www.toolbarn.com/images//makita/bdf452hw.jpg

450 in. lbs. of torque and weighing only 3.5 lbs

http://www.toolbarn.com/product/makita/BDF452HW/

I bought a few of these for work and will say that it is the nicest cordless I've used to date.

/thread

I'm kind of considering something like this. Maybe a smaller "kit" just because I don't need the other stuff at this point in my life.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...19+501763+1688

You can turn the hammering off when not needed Joe. And I have used it and found it beneficial to get through tough studs.

Looks pretty bad ass. I assume they have flashlights that share the rechargeable battery. Only thing that is stupid is they made it white?? Shit's gonna get dirty lookin fast, but function>all

My 14.4V DeWalt has been a champ. Wood, metal, concrete, it's done it all. The batteries are starting to show their age (>10 years) as they don't hold a charge as long anymore, but hell, they charge in 10-15 minutes, so who cares?

That makita does look awesome. I grew up using the makitas with the real long battery that filled the handle. They pretty much sucked and were all replaced with Dewalts of various volt ratings. Only thing I don't like about dewalts besides semi high initial cost is replacement batteries might as be made of gold. ($80 versus $40 of most other companies.)
Still watching ebay though.

thats the one i have. they have one that has a longer laster battery that is green/black but it was another $100 or so i think and only 2 speed trans vs 3(according to lit)

but this thing is awesome.

i bought a ryobi 14volt cordless 2 weeks before christmas. then after using it one day i went and bought the Makita. gave the ryobi to my mom.

One of my installers had his Ryobi's battery catch on fire when using his drill.
I'll pay a little extra for the DeWalt.

That Mak's Li battery probably ain't cheap neither.

If all the other good info in this thread doesn't convince me to buy a good name brand drill that statement will.

i do like to help

i prefer to use Ridgid. My work uses DeWalt, and they're not strong enough in my opinion. I personally use a 24v Ridgid Hammer Drill, and it works flawlessly drilling inch and a half holes through studding.

i have the ryobi "one" set of cordless shit that my girlfriend got me for christmas last year. I've been very happy with them so far. I don't think the individual stuff is that expensive, over at HD, and you can usually find ways to get discounts online for buying gift cards to there...

end of the day, if you're not doing crazy shit with it all the time, you can get away with something like what i have. if you're a heavy duty user, get a more heavy duty tool.

I bought the Makita set with the cordless impact and flash light. Works great, it wasn't too expensive. The cordless impact is worth it's weight in gold.

Bought this last night. For $300 like new, drill has been used once apparently. Everything is absolutely perfect. Guy needed cash to pay his lawyer so his wife doesn't take everything in his divorce or something stupid like that.
http://i27.tinypic.com/2dv7k0x.jpg
Came with a drill, sawzall, circ saw, work light, and 2 batteries. He included an extra charger and a "bad" battery(found out when i got home and tried to charge it.) He also included this sweet drill/driver set, it includes all the super cool quick change adapters and whatnot so i'm pretty happy with my purchase.
http://i30.tinypic.com/5o5v20.jpg
So i made the big purchase and hopefully these tools last me a long time. I'm pretty happy with my buy i figure i saved atleast $300 off retail when you include the extra pieces. Thanks for all the advice and info guys.

/thread

Nice.

My Dewalt 18v drill is one of the best tool purchases I have made to date.