Cordless drills ...........

[Brad225]

I have had Panasonic drills for 15+ years using them constantly and I am not always delicate with my drills. They hold up well but have the same battery replacement cost problem. When it is time to buy new ones it makes more sense to buy new drills.
I recently had to purchase some stand in drills as my Panasonic's were out of state. The Ryobi 18 volt drills are good for the money. May not last as long as the Panasonic from a build quality but I am surprised how good their batteries are.
Home Depot has a combination package of two tools one 1/2" drill and one impact driver drill. It comes with 2 smaller batteries and charger but they hold a charge for much longer than I would have expected.
I had never used an impact driver before and was amazed how well they worked. In most cases you can eliminate drilling holes before driving screws. The impact feature will force pieces of material together that normally would climb up the screw threads and not pull tight.
Go to HD and try them out. I think most stores have a place to demo them.

 

[greg_slo]

im a big fan of makita cordless or corded. i have the BHP452HW and an older corded that i cant seem to locate a model number right now...for kicks i tested the cordless on some scrap steel plates and got a 3/8" hole with no pilot (using an old bit) for a dozen times before i got bored with the test...i would not use the cordless in this app, but the drill impressed me with that none-the-less.

my other experience has been with de walt, ryobi, and craftsman, but most of my tool knowledge comes from steel/welding which is where the corded makita is used...my two cents: makita

 

[MPS]

One vote for Panasonic

After years of experience I have no bad word to say about quality or performance. As always with cordless tool, have a spare battery on charge while busy with your tool. Newer Li-Ion models are also lighter and smaller which is a big bonus during long hours at work...

 

[twich54]

I'm headed to Home Depot today for the ergonomic / balance test. FWIW the only place I could find Panasonic was Sears Web / Mail order only ??

 

[kach22i]

I'm headed to Home Depot today for the ergonomic / balance test. FWIW the only place I could find Panasonic was Sears Web / Mail order only ??

If they zip tie or cable lock it down at the display, screw them and support your local small hardware shop.

 

[Brad225]

This is where I have purchased my Panasonic drills in the past.
http://www.internationaltool.com/

 

[twich54]

Well I think I'm leaning towards the Craftsman C3 Compact Lithium-ion Drill/Driver (from what I can tell, same as the Ryobi). It comes with two compact Li-io batteries and the larger capacity battery with charger is also on sale. I've got $55 remaing on a Sears gift card so it's kind of a no-brainer.

 

[Brad225]

I have 2 of the compact and 2 of the full size batteries. The compact will hold a surprisingly long charge. One thing about these batteries is they will run fine but when the charge is used up they just shut off. Not like other batteries I have used that slowly run down. First time it happened I was sure there was something wrong with the drill.