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Looking to buy a new cordless drill - price range $100 - any rec's?

murphy55d

murphy55d

Lifer
I am far from a professional so I don't need an expensive deWalt drill, but after putting up a privacy fence last weekend my 12V B&D does not cut it anymore. It BARELY drove in the 3 inch screws into the 4x4 posts, sometimes i had to use my buddys 18V to finish them off. Looking to move up to an 18v drill. I was looking at Home depot and sears both and ran across these two sets:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ckType=G6#desc

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053

Are the saws that come with these any good? Or would I just be better off buying a drill by itself(home depot has an 18V ryobi with two batteries and a charger for $80, here: http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardw...atalogId=10053 )

Anywhere else I should check? I really want to stay at that $100 price point, which is why the combo kits were most attractive, especially the ones w/ 2 batteries.
 
I have a brother in law that's a carpenter who has taught me a lil bit. Keeping in mind that I'm no pro and he uses compressed air for his tools he isn't a big fan of either Craftsman or Ryobi. Milwaukee drills are generally considered to be of pretty good quality so you might want to give a look at this drill or if you think you might need a bit more torque and are willing to spend a bit more you can try this drill.
 
Cordless drills suck for driving screws. What you want is a cordless impact driver. After using one, you will never bother trying to turn a screw with a drill again. Don't bother with a cordless saw, get a drill and screw gun bundle. Riobi is the best of the cheap tools.
Toolking often had Dewalt referbs for a hundred bucks.
 
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That Milwaukee is nice but by the time I buy a battery and charger I'm way over budget. And I don't plan on major construction. Just a deck over the summer and then general use after that. Can you give me the negative on those ryobi ones? I know there's always better but are they junk to be avoided?
 
murphy55d said:
That Milwaukee is nice but by the time I buy a battery and charger I'm way over budget. And I don't plan on major construction. Just a deck over the summer and then general use after that. Can you give me the negative on those ryobi ones? I know there's always better but are they junk to be avoided?
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Keep in mind that there are only a couple of factories in China that churn these things out nowadays. Different specs, some different components...but same overall build quality.

I've had a few Ryobi products over the years. DEFINITELY NOT contractor grade, but if you only use them a couple of times per year...and for light-duty stuff, they're ok. (not great, but ok)

Lots of folks swear by the Hitachi branded tools as well. I know they make different grades that basically look the same, (green housings) so pay attention when you buy.
 
We have that Ryobi set, and it works well for what we use it for. Not professional grade by any means, but we only use it for some of the projects my wife does, and we recently built a stand for our new aquarium and used it to drill pocket holes and attach stuff.
 
trmiv said:
We have that Ryobi set, and it works well for what we use it for. Not professional grade by any means, but we only use it for some of the projects my wife does, and we recently built a stand for our new aquarium and used it to drill pocket holes and attach stuff.
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Do you have any comments on the saw? Or did you mean the drill set with the multiple batteries
 
We have the saw, drill and jigsaw. The saw works OK for thinner stuff, but chokes on thicker wood. I was cutting 3/4" plywood and it wouldn't go very far through it without slowing or stopping, so I had to use a full size plug-in saw. On thinner plywood the saw works just fine for my purposes.
 
That's what I was wondering. I couldn't imagine a cordless saw going through too much. I may just get that Ryobi with the two batteries and then a separate circular saw
 
I would get the lithium ion ryobi drill at home depot. It should be around $100 and its way better than the ni-cad. I have the lithium ion combo kit I use all the time doing apartment maintenance. The circular saw is about pointless it comes in handy sometimes for cutting ones bys but thats about it. Other than that there great tools for the price.
 
murphy55d said:
That Milwaukee is nice but by the time I buy a battery and charger I'm way over budget. And I don't plan on major construction. Just a deck over the summer and then general use after that. Can you give me the negative on those ryobi ones? I know there's always better but are they junk to be avoided?
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Well, the problem is that as most of the other folks have responded the Ryobis are ok for lightweight stuff. However building a deck really isn't what I would consider to be lightweight. If you want to avoid frustration I would go ahead and find the best deal you can on a Milwaukee or DeWalt (refurbed or otherwise) and use it then keep it for the light duty work. Either one will last a lot longer than a Ryobi would.
 
I think Ryobi would be just fine for your needs. I recently built a fort for my kids (http://www.jacksbackyard.com/EndeavorJBY.htm), and I used tools of all grades:

Drill: Black & Decker
Belt sander: Black & Decker
Circular saw: Ryobi
Router: Ryobi
Electric planer: Bosch

All my tools are corded, I don't use cordless at all.

I've listed the tools in the order from the most iffy to the best. While Black & Decker drill did not give out, the plastic gears are definitely starting to wear out, and the wobble is getting worse. The trigger is also not very smooth, and goes from nothing to full blast in a jerky fashion, unless you are super accurate.

Ryobi stuff was rock-solid, no complaints. Bosch was just awesome, luxury grade 🙂 I got a good deal on it at Amazon, buying refurbished.
 
My dad who is a carpenter has always told me, don't bother with a cordless one for any actual work. He would only use the cordless for light stuff around the house, but anything that required actual work he would bust out the wired. The wired one will also last you longer, most the time with wireless the batteries go to shit and to buy a new battery is nearly the cost of an entire new wireless drill.
 
KaOTiK said:
My dad who is a carpenter has always told me, don't bother with a cordless one for any actual work. He would only use the cordless for light stuff around the house, but anything that required actual work he would bust out the wired. The wired one will also last you longer, most the time with wireless the batteries go to shit and to buy a new battery is nearly the cost of an entire new wireless drill.
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This Cordless tools SUCK Big time
 
KaOTiK said:
My dad who is a carpenter has always told me, don't bother with a cordless one for any actual work. He would only use the cordless for light stuff around the house, but anything that required actual work he would bust out the wired. The wired one will also last you longer, most the time with wireless the batteries go to shit and to buy a new battery is nearly the cost of an entire new wireless drill.
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The battery is the main concern I have. I have a 12v B&D battery like OP; the cost was $40 for the set, but buying a replacement battery is $25-$35 (non-lithium batteries FYI). Upon further research, I found that I could get a corded Dewalt for half the price of a 12v Dewalt.
 
Anyone who tells you that you need to buy a $200 drill that uses $75 batteries is a fool. I did more work than most homeowners ever do when we were renovating our house, and a Ryobi drill served me fine. Homeowners do not need contractor grade tools.

I'll second the recommendation to get an impact driver if you want to do some serious screw driving (e.g. frequently driving 3"+ screws).

I've never found a corded drill that is designed for driving screws. They're usually designed to spin really fast, and when driving screws you don't really want that. They also lack a clutch which is necessary when you don't want excessive torque, and they don't stop spinning immediately when you let off the trigger. A drywall screwdriver is corded and designed for driving screws, but I don't know how suitable they are for anything other than hanging drywall (I have one, but I've only ever used it to hang drywall).

Don't bother with a cordless circular saw, a corded saw is infinitely better and really cheap. Cordless reciprocating saws are handy. I have tree pruning blades, so I use mine around the yard - cordless comes in handy.
 
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There's a combo deal just shown up on slickdeals

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2795695

DEWALT 4-Tool 18-Volt Cordless Combo Kit $249 (was $398)
at lowes [lowes.com]
4-Tool 18-Volt Cordless Combo Kit

•Compact drill/driver delivers 410 unit watts out of maximum power
•Impact driver delivers 1170 In./Lbs. of torque and 0-2400 RPM
•Reciprocating saw's keyless blade clamp allows for quick blade changes
•Pivoting-head flashlight projects light in variable directions
•Independently certified to meet applicable standards

GOGOGO BUY NOW 😀
 
Hitachi 14.4 Volt Lithium Ion Cordless Driver Drill

$99 - $10 coupon from lowes website, exp. 4/4
717709016200lg.jpg
 
KaOTiK said:
My dad who is a carpenter has always told me, don't bother with a cordless one for any actual work. He would only use the cordless for light stuff around the house, but anything that required actual work he would bust out the wired. The wired one will also last you longer, most the time with wireless the batteries go to shit and to buy a new battery is nearly the cost of an entire new wireless drill.
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Your dad is wrong on this one. To my knowledge, no one makes a corded impact driver, if they did I'd own one. A cordless impact driver with two batteries will allow you to run in 3" deck screws all day long. I know this because I do it several times a year.

Don't ever use a drill for screws, get an impact driver, use it, then come back and thank me for telling you about them.
 
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