Cordless Drill/driver Question

[Cap'n Carageous]

I know there are a few DIYers out there so maybe someone can help me here. I need a cordless drill. There are all kinds of units available in every voltage imaginable (and some I'd have never thought of). Prices range from suspiciously cheap to ridiculously expensive. I know, you get what you pay for, that ain't the issue.
A few years ago I bought a Craftsman 9.6 volt unit. Very nice heavy unit for the money. Two batteries, charger and hardshell case. Well, now the batteries are weak and Sears and Craftsman act like they never made the darn thing. Not even listed in the parts books. A very good drill without a battery is worthless.

Now, to the question. Bosch, Milwaukee, Dewalt, all good brands. Anyone have experience with an older model that you can still get parts for? What is the best deal on the market now? Is planned obsolescence the norm? On the surface it would appear that in many cases you can buy a new drill for what the batteries cost.

[TheDon]

i like dewalt

For drills Panasonic all the way. For everything else I use Milwaukee.

[suginami]

I bought my 18 volt cordless drill at Harbor Freight for about $29.00.

It does almost everything I ask it to do 98% of the time. Today was one of the days when it didn't.

I was hanging cabinets in my garage today, and it ran out of tourque when I was sinking #10 2 1/2 inch panhead screws into the studs.

To finish the job, I had to bring out my 1/2" drive, electric Porter Cable drill, which has so much torque it will pull your arm out of your socket!

[nappy nate]

If I had to narrow it down to one I'd say dewalt in this case , although I'm attracted to anything that says porter-cable on it.

[compress ignite]

'bought a Bosch 24 volt kit (came with a sawsall by mail 9 days later):drill,
light,circular saw,charger and two batteries[in 1999] for about $423 U.S.
total.The damn 1/2 inch drill will attempt to break your wrist,if you're not
careful.

I'm waiting for the Lithium/Ion upgrade to the batteries.

[Tirebiter]

I like the 12 volt dewalts. If and when the batteries go out of production, you can use it off a car battery.

[G-Benz]

When in doubt, I look at what the pros use every day. At least at home construction sites I see the DeWalt brand most often...

[Cap'n Carageous]

Originally Posted by Tirebiter

I like the 12 volt dewalts. If and when the batteries go out of production, you can use it off a car battery.

Wouldn't that be kinda heavy?!!!

[boneheaddoctor]

Originally Posted by Cap'n Carageous

Wouldn't that be kinda heavy?!!!

another use for those Uber Jumpercables.................

[stayalert]

!'ve had a dewalt 14.4 or so volt cordleess that gets a ton of use. I've had it for about 5 yes, only have one battery and it still works like it was brand new. The 18 volt vesrions appear to be more weight than I would wnt to carry around all the time.

[glenmore]

My Makita has served me well. To show you how long ago I bought it, the standard back then was 9v batteries! This was about 15 years ago and it is still going strong. Back then, Makita was the industry standard but since then a whole lot of competition has come to the market.

glenmore

Super Good = Panasonic but very expensive
Good = Mill, Dewalt Bosch, Rigid I personally ****** hate Dewalt the batteries suck and they are heavy.

[G-Benz]

Originally Posted by MedMech

I personally ****** hate Dewalt the batteries suck and they are heavy.

I guess the car battery idea isn't too far fetched!