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Which drill should I buy?

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For general household use, most people do not need an impact driver. A decent drill is a lot less expensive than a decent impact driver. However, a set is usually a much better buy- if anything, never buy an impact driver on its own. The accompanying drill is typically nearly free.

This set is a retardedly good value:
http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LCT209W...s=makita+drill

I certainly wouldn't recommend against 18v or lithium ion, but don't consider them must-haves. My Li-Ion batteries hold a charge longer than my NiMH ones, but that's it. Both have been plenty durable, and NiMH is typically seen in higher capacities, if that matters to you. With two batteries, it really shouldn't. They will charge faster than you can use them.

Ignore the urge to go all Tim Taylor and buy the biggest, heaviest thing possible. I love my small Makitas and use them almost exclusively.
 
rudeguy said:
I miss my 9.whatever volt right angle Makita.

Give me nicad over lion any day.
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Shave your head and go back to Mad Max days bro. You need to solve your crisis though. You are shaving your head, buying guns and more.

Lithium batteries are WAY better.

I know about this, I came from cordless lawn tools and buying 8+ batteries a year.
 
Oh and BTW new Dewalt stuff is absolute fucking trash compared to what is was 10 years ago. We have probably 100-150 Dewalt drills at work and the new stuff is junk. I have a 12v XRP at home I got on sale 5 years ago and one of the batteries died after only a few charges. Same goes with Porter Cable, it used to be indestructible but now it blows.

As best as I remember Black & Decker bought Dewalt, Porter Cable and possibly even Delta. Quality has gone down the shitter.

Bosch is a worthy mention. I would consider them as well. If I was buying today it would be either Bosch or Milwaukee.
 
alkemyst said:
Shave your head and go back to Mad Max days bro. You need to solve your crisis though. You are shaving your head, buying guns and more.

Lithium batteries are WAY better.

I know about this, I came from cordless lawn tools and buying 8+ batteries a year.
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A pile of wet shit is better than nicad.

But if you're talking about NiMH, you know even less about this than most topics. As if that wasn't evidenced with the phrase 'cordless lawn tools,' anyway.

I have NiMH batteries that I've been using professionally for over five years now.
 
phucheneh said:
A pile of wet shit is better than nicad.

But if you're talking about NiMH, you know even less about this than most topics. As if that wasn't evidenced with the phrase 'cordless lawn tools,' anyway.

I have NiMH batteries that I've been using professionally for over five years now.
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Sorry bro, I forgot what the non-lithium stuff was called,

Gratz at your chest flex, you should have known it was not nicads I was talking about really.
 
Milwaukee is king these days for making heavy duty stuff.

But for someone who is going to use a drill for light duty stuff around the house a few times a year, just get some cheap Ryobi combo.

You can probably get the Impact/Drill 2 tool combo for $100 or a single tool for $60.

Another option is to go with the little Milwaukee M12 line. It's a little guy but the 12V tool line are light and easy to hold.
 
alkemyst said:
Shave your head and go back to Mad Max days bro. You need to solve your crisis though. You are shaving your head, buying guns and more.

Lithium batteries are WAY better.

I know about this, I came from cordless lawn tools and buying 8+ batteries a year.
Click to expand...

Oh look...someone is infatuated with me.
Get off my nuts bro
 
Each brand comes out with new models every 1-2 years, battery technology keeps changing, and there are many rebranded models.

If you want a good, cheap drill, I would recommend any brand that is 18v+ and Lithium Ion.
As long as it is 18v and lithium ion, even a cheap drill will work well.
It's similar to lawn equipment. There are a million brands, but as long as you get a good motor, it will perform well and last a long time.

Those little 12v lithium versions are crap. Low speed and no torque.
 
alkemyst said:
The OP did in fact link to a drill. It's a 3 in 1 tool. It uses drill bits with hex ends.

I would not recommend that tool.

For those that bash cordless, you must have had experience with a dud or cheap tools. My craftsman 19.2V litium and the 19.2V ni-cad versions before it worked very well for even a day of drilling with a spare battery.

Unless you are using wire wheels, grinding stones, etc (continuous duty), a cordless tool is much better.
Click to expand...

Let's take a closer look

Wired
pros: low cost, no charge/battery needed, endless power
cons: wire?

Battery
pros: no wire
cons: high cost, recharge needed on long use or before use (if you don't use it much), battery replacements (they do die)

I will take a bit of inconvenience and plug in my wire, thank you very much.
 
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spacejamz said:
You cannot apply your situation to everyone....

For those that will need to use their drill frequently, getting a nice lithium cordless one makes sense...Hassling with cords is a PITA if you use drill alot.
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Correct

But most people don't use their drill frequently. And for that situation I strongly recommend corded.

For those that needed it on DAILY or even weekly basis, cordless might make more sense.

I use my drill maybe 5-10 times a year IF that so it simply doesn't make sense to have a battery.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Correct

But most people don't use their drill frequently. And for that situation I strongly recommend corded.

For those that needed it on DAILY or even weekly basis, cordless might make more sense.

I use my drill maybe 5-10 times a year IF that so it simply doesn't make sense to have a battery.
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I posted this in post #7: 🙂

spacejamz said:
how much drilling do you plan on doing? just occasional repairs around the house (use just a few times a year?) or alot of home improvement projects (weekly/few times month?)

If it is just occasionally, IMO you would be better off getting a corded drill so you don't have to worry about keeping the batteries charged (even though lithium ones hold their charge fairly well over long period of time) or replacing batteries that stop holding a charge...
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NutBucket said:
Just too bad they've sold out to the Chinese. At least some of their "classics" are still US made.
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By they, you mean all brands, right?

I still don't understand why people ask for advice on power tools from a forum that largely brags about posting at "work", it's like seeking racial sensitivity advice from youtube comments.

At least the OP was smart enough to cut their losses and let the thread run it's natural course to turn into a pissing contest, my post included. :\
 
Well, I figure at least Makita is still Japanese controlled and Bosch seems to be under German control. The fact that I can walk into Home Depot and buy rather cheap Milwaukee branded pliers and such makes me sad.
 
Maybe I'm a Luddite, but a corded drill is a must have before buying the cordless counterpart. I just picked up a Bosch corded 3/8" VSR for $10 from the pawn shop along with a large corded Black and Decker hammer drill for $15. I love my cordless drill, but you always need a backup.
 
Corded drills are worthless for the needs of most people. have fun with that five pound tool with a single speed trigger.

And anyone who says '18v Li-Ion, any brand' should not be listened to. You're prioritizing the least important things. Again, have fun with a chunky, awkward, poorly-functioning piece of shit.

The 12v Makitas are not supposed to have balls. They're supposed to be lightweight and convenient...but they still have enough balls for most purposes.

But I'll defer the the 'IT professional' crowd using giant 18v Dewalts and Milwaukees to drill holes in drywall or turn machine screws.
 
phucheneh said:
Corded drills are worthless for the needs of most people. have fun with that five pound tool with a single speed trigger.

And anyone who says '18v Li-Ion, any brand' should not be listened to. You're prioritizing the least important things. Again, have fun with a chunky, awkward, poorly-functioning piece of shit.

The 12v Makitas are not supposed to have balls. They're supposed to be lightweight and convenient...but they still have enough balls for most purposes.

But I'll defer the the 'IT professional' crowd using giant 18v Dewalts and Milwaukees to drill holes in drywall or turn machine screws.
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Yep

I got flamed because I said I would take my old 9.whatever Makita right angle over the lion stuff. I used that thing hard every day for five years. I had to buy a new battery once but so what?

Then I helped my bro in law drywall his house. He bought shiny new dewalt lions. I've never changed batteries so often and I really wasn't used to them just stopping without warning.

Corded is fine for commercial use where you have different drills for different jobs.
 
All the corded drills I've used have had horrible triggers. Always going too fast or too slow. Plus the gradual wind-down once you let off the trigger.

Cheap or not-so-cheap, they're generally made to be rugged and simple. Which is good for some purposes. IMO not good for household tasks like light drilling or assembling Ikea furniture or whatever. That's why I like the newer lightweight battery-inside-handle models. One of those tiny 12v batteries will last a surprisingly long time. But change that to a beefier 18v motor with your typical small Li-Ion battery...they're dead in no time.

My 14.4v Makita with 2.6Ah NiMH batts, OTOH, lasts forever. And that's, again, on batts that have been in use for over five years.

I'm not much for brand loyalty, but I really don't see the point in much besides Makita for general purposes. They're OMG Chinese, yes...like everything. But they're a proper mix durable, powerful, and not overly clunky or heavy. And taking yet another quick look at Amazon, they seem to have the most affordable batteries...about 50 bucks for 18v 3.0Ah ones. The 1.5 (or less) batteries that a lot of 18v tools are shipped with are just not enough.

As I mentioned, though, the benefit of Li-Ion is that they hold a charge pretty indefinitely. And they don't take very long to charge. But I still think it can be a PITA to only have one batt...most of your two battery drill kits are overpriced, though. $200 when I can buy the bare tool for under 100 and double-capacity batteries for 50 a piece? Wut?

Most brands have the best deals on the two tool kits. Not much more than one tool with two batteries.

edit: and the reason I keep repeating the 'buy a lighter weight drill' thing is simply that I don't think most people have given them a chance. Once you've used the smaller stuff and seen that it does the same jobs just fine, you'll wonder why you ever bothered wearing yourself out with one of those big clunky drills.

For the vast majority of people, anything past this is major overkill:
http://www.amazon.com/Makita-LXFD01...d=1381275565&sr=1-3&keywords=makita+18v+drill
 
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I have an uber-cheap Black and Decker that's near 20 years old and it's never let me down. If you used a drill enough to need something good, you'd know what you need. The fact that you're asking the question demonstrates that you just want to have a drill to keep around for occasional light usage, so you don't need much. Just basic and reliable will be fine for most people.
 
phucheneh said:
But I'll defer the the 'IT professional' crowd using giant 18v Dewalts and Milwaukees to drill holes in drywall or turn machine screws.
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Some of us on here aren't IT pro's. I'm in electrical, think we've seen a carpenter, tin knocker, and pipe fitter in here.

One thing many people on here have learned is to use quality products. For me, I'm used to Dewalt and satisfied by it, so it's what I can recommend. If you asked me about hand tools I would have my own opinions there, though I understand people may not want to pay $20+ per pair of pliers 😛

I haven't really used the other brands of cordless tools. In general it's been Dewalt 18V with nicad, one thing I will say is the capacity is pretty damn good on those.




Also, "giant 18v Dewalts"? Bro do you lift???!?! :sneaky:
 
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