Want to buy a simple cordless drill/driver but would like information on voltags vs price.Have seen (for instance) a Bosch PSR 1440 (14.4v) one that is around £50 but also there is a Bosch PSR 12ve (12 v) that is around £70. Is there any relationship between voltage and price at all? The Dewalt range is quite pricey so what do you get for your money with the? Thanks.
Have a look at the cheap end of the market and go for a 24 volt Makita lookalike if you can find one. Keeping one step ahead of the copyrights and patents laws, these pirates change their names every so often.
So how much does it cost to assemble a bunch of parts anyway? 2 or 3 hundred quid? Really?
How come Linux is given away when Windows costs an arm and a leg? An army of people work on Linux for next to nothing. Windows personel get a little more but once the product is ready for issue it costs about 10 p per Cd. Less for bulk.
The only thing you need to worry about is the quality of the charger. If you don't trust your local market trader, call in at Maplins.
The odd thing about these devices is that voltage is not what should be important
- wattage should be, just as with mains driven ones.
I bought a rechargable screwdriver (3 or 4 volt) for fitting shelves but that was useless and I'm still looking for a good use for it.
I don't know about those expensive models but a 14.4 Volt cheapo drill from B&Q for about £15 has been alsolutely great for screwdriving, and is pretty good for holes in wood with up to a 15mm chisel bit. It will get through an oak joist at a pinch, but it's cruel! I only get out the new mains driven hammer drill for masonry, for holes in joists where I've the room to get at it, or to impress the donor as it was a birthday present!
Phil
IMHO, the batteries make a vast difference. Apart from lasting longer and storing a higher charge, decent cells can also deliver more power - which can make a big improvement to the starting torque and controllability of a 'cheap' drill.
Thanks Phil - I will take a peep at the cheaper higher voltage models.
They all use standard sized cells - 'sub C' size - so the only way to increase battery capacity is by increasing the voltage, given that parallel connection of Ni-Cads etc is a practical no-no.
I'd suggest looking in B&Q at their "performance power" range. I'd also suggest a 14.4v as an absolute minimum.
I went to B&Q to buy a battery for my drill but came away with a new drill as it was cheaper than the battery!!
sPoNiX
If you ignore the development, support and marketing costs it isn't surprising that pirates can rip off branded products.
It is, however, theft.
I'm by no means an M$ supporter, but this is not a sesnible argument. There is a cost in developing software, like any other designed product. People have to be paid.
If people working on Linux want to donate their time, that's fine, but it is a donation and the user shouldn't expect free stuff as a right.
The main thing is not the charger - it is the quality of the batteries and of the motor controller and motor.
.andy
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Unfortunately, the cheaper end manufacturers sell on voltage because the customer perceives that the higher the better.
The reality is that this is not the case and what matters is the quality of the battery, the speed controller and the motor.
In a recent survey, a Panasonic 15.6v product outperformed 18 and 24v cheap products.
A 14.4v Makita will be far better and last a great deal longer than a cheap 18v product.
.andy
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Andy Hall has brought this to us :
It is if you expect it to last a long time, but even good quality batteries will quickly wear out and the cost of a replacement pack often comes close to the cost of a complete new drill....
For example I picked up a new drill, variable speed, forward and reverse, clutch, two 14v batteries complete with a 1 hour charger, last year at a car boot sale for £20. There were stacks of them and I could of had a hammer version for £25.
It has had lots of use since I got it, it does the job and when it wears out I can bin it and get a new one.
I've found this not to be the case as long as the tool is good quality, with a good charger and the batteries are treated with respect. I tend to stick to one or two brands and then batteries are interchangeable between tools.
I don't buy things at car boot sales because it is not clear what is genuine and what is counterfeit and what is and isn't stolen property. I prefer to buy tools of known origin with known quality of service and support.
.andy
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While we're on the subject, I don't know if you remember my thread last year about my Erbauer 18V combi which failed. After much umming and aaring, I replaced it with a similar priced (£130) Bosch 18V combi (you said get a Makita, I said too expensive for weekend use).
Well, the Bosch has just started exhibiting motor bearing failure symptoms. So this one's going back, and guess what I'm gonna buy ;-)
I have to say this is the only Bosch tool which has ever let me down. I have a whole load of them (mains drill, planer, sanders, angle grinders etc), some green (home) and some blue (pro), many of which have had a lot of abuse over the years, and no failures. I don't think I'm particularly hard on my drill/drivers - they get a lot of use, but mostly non-hammer, and mostly for driving rather than drilling.
Andy Hall explained on 20/04/2004 :
As do I, but for occasional DIY use I don't expect such items to take quite the same level of punishment. Professional tools for regular, hard, daily use.
Bosch are crap. I have had lots of problems with this brand over the years.
Try the Wickes pro drills, made by Kress and 2 yr guarantee. For around £80-90
I really can't agree with that. I have around 8 Bosch power tools, as well as several Bosch white goods, and have not had any problems with any of them except for the 18V combi. Some of the tools are nearly 10 years old, and they've all had a huge amount of use.
I've found that whenever I've done that, the damn things are always either inadequate, inaccurate or break down at the most inconvenient time.
OK, so there's a 2 year guarantee, or I can go and buy a new one. The trouble is that that typically takes a couple of hours to go and do and that costs way more than the difference in the cost of buying a decent tool in the first place when you account for what time is worth.
.andy
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Same here. It's possible their modern stuff isn't as good, given that many buy on price rather than quality these days.
My most recent Bosch purchase was a random orbit sander (PEX 400), which seems to me as well thought out and put together as any of the other Bosch tools I have. I'm a little surprised about the cordless drill failing in such an obvious way, but bearing wear isn't likely to be caused by a manufacturing fault.
I wonder if they now source some of their 'fast moving' tools like cordless drills from those same Chinese factories as many of the other cheap brands?
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