Ryobi vs Firestorm

My father in law wants a reciprocating saw for Christmas. His use will be relatively light duty, and I'm considering either the Ryobi or Firestorm 18v rechargable models. Any brand preferences between these two?

And, yeah, the DeWalt is nice at twice the price, but is more tool than the situation warrants.

Reply to
Kyle Boatright
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Greetings,

a) If he already owns one name brand then purchase more of the same. b) Team up with another relative and purchase a "set" with multiple cordless tools-- they are much cheaper per tool this way and he gets two batteries c) I am happy with my Ryobi

Hope this helps, William

Reply to
William Deans

Good ideas, but A & B are no-go's...

I have a Ryobi 18v recip saw I'm happy with too, but I do want to get a read on Firestorm. The Lowe's is 20 miles closer to his house than HD, and if the Firestorm tools are equivalent, I'd get the Firestorm just for his convenience - for returns or additions to his tool collection.

Reply to
Kyle Boatright

Wow, do you buy the Yugo or the Fiat. Tough choice.

Ryobi has a new 18V set of tools and the batteries are only $25 for replacements. Most times the batteries are the first thing to go and cost more than the tool did.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Overstating things, I think. While I like nice tools, I can't justify top of the line equipment for occasional use, and neither can my father in law. You wouldn't buy a Stratavarius violin unless you were a professional violinist, and I don't see buying top of the line for a tool that'll get used a half dozen times a year. Ryobi tools have a place in the world, and (realistically) that place is in the toolbox of most of us, particularly for specialty tools. I've got a number of tools (and toys) where I "overbought", and regret it. My $1,000 Powermatic Tablesaw?? Overkill. For my use, the $550 Rigid saw would have been fine. My Remington 700 with the high end scope, stainless barrel, etc? A far better rifle than I am a marksman. Again, I overbought.

Yep. Also, Homelite batteries are exactly the same as Ryobi. You can fit your Ryobi battery into a Homelite tool, or vice versa. Surprised me when I figured that out...

KB

Reply to
Kyle Boatright

Not IMO. I own a couple of Ryobi tools. They don't work any more. But for a mere $126 I can get it to work as good as the brand new $89 one.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I'm a big fan of Ryobi. Although on the inexpensive side, Ryobi has made some really smart decisions when it comes to building tools. It's the little things that make them so nice, like a magnet on the battery housing at the bottom of the drill, or the 18v one+ system whereby all

18volt products work with the same battery and best of all the batteries are cheap to replace. My neighbor bought a Firestorm and returned it the next day. My advice, go with Ryobi you'll be much happier. Evan
Reply to
Evan

I'm a big fan of Ryobi. Although on the inexpensive side, Ryobi has made some really smart decisions when it comes to building tools. It's the little things that make them so nice, like a magnet on the battery housing at the bottom of the drill, or the 18v one+ system whereby all

18volt products work with the same battery and best of all the batteries are cheap to replace. My neighbor bought a Firestorm and returned it the next day. My advice, go with Ryobi you'll be much happier. Evan
Reply to
Evan

I have and use the Ryobi, though 18v recips are under powered for heavy use. I have a PC Tiger Saw for those jobs though. My bigest use is with a pruning blade. Decent quick-change blades and easy controls, decent balance.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Cochran

I have a Ryobi circular saw and the shield gets caught when cutting thin material (.25 plywood).

Never been a fan of black & decker, but I like dewalt (go figure). Never had a cordless drill. But my Dewalt AC drill is going on 10 years and I beat that thing like a red-headed stepchild.

The average use may need better tools in have a tenency to abuse them. Not sure if how I broke the ryobi circular saw, but it isn't very solid.

c_kubie

Reply to
c_kubie

I have a Ryobi circular saw and the shield gets caught when cutting thin material (.25 plywood).

Never been a fan of black & decker, but I like dewalt (go figure). Never had a cordless drill. But my Dewalt AC drill is going on 10 years and I beat that thing like a red-headed stepchild.

The average use may need better tools in have a tenency to abuse them. Not sure if how I broke the ryobi circular saw, but it isn't very solid.

c_kubie

Reply to
c_kubie

On 12/7/2004 9:39 AM US(ET), c snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

There is a recall

formatting link

Reply to
willshak

Get the Sawzall instead, you won't regret it.

Reply to
Jedd Haas

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