Cordless drill upgrsde time. Have been using argos specials but after a whole bathroom refit the trigger is gone (Still not bad for 15 quid)
The front runners are Screwfix 9.6 v Makita B n Q 12 volt RYOBI
Both £75.00, Both 1 hour 2 batterys Which?
Ryobi seems to be B n Q only (cannot find it on net anywhere else) Ryobi has 2 year warranty MAK has 1 Ryobi has built in spirit levels which look kind of fun BUT do they actually work. Also MAKTEC is turning up on EBAY quite a lot.
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is this (ignoring the puff which states that they have the same quality) Is this worth considering? MAKITAs website is curiously quiet about this. Basically is a 75 quid MAK better than a 75 quid 12 V RYOBI?
I've got both a makita and a ryobi drill driver and though ryobi has lasted very well the makita feels tougher.
I buy all my makita tools from lawson who are the uk main dealer and have usually had good service. There is a deal on the 9.6v drill/driver at the moment but it's not cheaper than screwfix.
Makita win on all counts. I have used Makita for over 20 years with very little need for service or repairs. If required parts are easily available for Makita - for example I managed to damage the plastic guard on my compound sliding mitre saw and they replaced it and a few other bits (like springs etc for around 10 quid).
My memory of ryobi from Costco (which is a great place to shop) is that although Costcos after sales is great (i.e. no questions refund when needed) that Ryobi were less helpful.
My advice would be to buy the Makita 8443D Drill Driver/Hammer - and the hammer really works for anything up to brick with ease. It is not big and runs for ages. It is expensive but I can point you towards a Travis Perkins (of all places) that will supply at around half the RRP including the vat.
Ever considered Axminster? IIRC their 18V "White" combi drill with 2 NiMH batteries and a 90 minute charger is about the same price. If an Argos Special has been doing ok for you so far, this might just be enough of a jump in quality?
Having said that, it isn't a Makita - I'm now on my third White. Axminster have been great about replacing them so far, but since I use this tool quite a lot in my work I'm beginning to wish I'd spent more money on one of the higher-spec Maks. First one speed control failed (trigger became on/off - kept this as a spare). Second one got hot, speed control started failing (i.e. was intermittent) and then, even though I was nursing it by letting it rest between holes, it stopped altogether. We'll see how the third one gets on.
And no, I wasn't using it beyond its spec. When the second one failed I was using it to auger 20mm holes in wooden joists, and clearing out the holes regularly.
Instead of a White, try a Wickes drill. They are made by Kress.
Most certainly they would. When it come to constant pro use these tools are the business. for semi-pro and DIY, better alternatives on price/performance are available.
I've never found it useful to do comparisons of power tools on a fixed price basis when the comparison is different categories of tool at the same price point.
In cordless tools, especially drills/screwdrivers the key points are:
- build quality (which determines quality of use and reliability)
- battery quality (which has an impact on power and run time)
- speed controller (which determines how good the drill is for mixed work)
- weight and balance (which determines comfort of use)
- service and spares backup
A 9.6v ordinary drill may not be as powerful as a 12v one, although if well engineered and with good batteries could be. For example, I recently read a review of a Panasonic drill which was in teh £200 range and with a 15.6v battery outperformed the 18v models in a similar to slightly lower price group.
I suspect though, that in general a good 9.6v tool might get close to a poor 12v one. One exception is the Makita angle drivers, which have a low gearing and perform certainly better than the next voltage up in standard tools.
If your objective is to meet a price point, then it is going to be a trade off on performance and relaibility. I have several Makita cordless tools and all of them are excellent against all the criteria that I've mentioned, especially relaibility and motor control.
Bear in mind that B&Q do not provide for a spares and repair capability for their power tools. The assumption is that you get a warranty of 1-3 years and if it breaks after that then you bin the tool and buy another. They play the numbers game. I personally prefer to provide products that are better quality and for which support and spares are available.
A more useful comparison is to compare tools in the same voltage class
- i.e. compare the Ryobi 12v product with the Makita one and decide whether the extra quality and service of the Makita justify themselves to you for your application. From my own experience, there's no contest and I think that the Makita products are worth the extra money. Go and try them out.
It is worth choosing a brand for several tool types if you can because commonality of batteries is useful.
But is it worth spending £40 on a repair on 5 years old tool costing £6-70? I would rather buy a new one, and the quality, performance, etc will probably be better then.
Yes, you must compare like with like.
If a Makita is slightly more expensive then it is worth going for. If it is twice the price for a semi-pro/DIY use, then it is worth assessing other models.
What price? This is important for light use. A hammer drill? Get a drill/driver only and an SDS drill. I have not used a hammer drill for a long time since I bought the SDS. No contest.
Probably not. Generally, Makita spares for the typical consumables are not that expensive and repair oneself is easy enough. I think that £20-30 worth of spares for a £150 tool is worthwhile. In practice, though, with Makita stuff the longevity and robustness is such that repair is not a big issue anyway.
It really depends on use and what one is trying to achieve.
It is a big issue when used for what it is intended; heavy every day professional use. When for DIY they should last, but the price then become unacceptable for light use.
On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 11:44:51 +0000, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall strung together this:
I've just had 2 Makita drills repaired. An ageing HR2410 which had new seals, chuck bearings and a general service. Total cost was £12. The other was a 8443D, a new motor, bearings and general service was just short of £35. The total cost of the two drills was about £370. A bargain me thinks, considering they do get some abuse. ..
Some people view DIY mainly as a means of saving money. If that is the main criterion which overrides ease of use and reliability of tools, quality of result and cost of ownership and usage is very light, then it may make sense to buy a cheap tool if it can produce work to a standard acceptable to the user.
I take a rather different view which is that I do DIY jobs because I like doing them and because I can, in many cases do a better job than a professional. Cost is a factor, but not the most important one. I look at total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the tool, but more importantly the quality of work I can achieve with it vs. the cost.
I also look at whether it can save time in doing a job or make it more pleasurable. If there is a job that I am not enthused about doing, but that is made acceptable and I can get a good result that I couldn't otherwise by buying a particular tool, I will buy it if I can cover a reasonable amount of the cost as a saving vs. a professional doing the job.
Likewise if it is a timesaving situation. That then depends on how one costs one's time. Some people trade time for cost in the direction of cost being more important. WIthin reason, I tend to work the other way. If I have to waste a couple of hours returning a tool that isn't up to the job or has failed, then to me, that is wasting far more effort and money than buying a decent one in the first place.
Especially in the field of motorised tools like drills and routers, a good quality motor with proper control, power and decent bearings and mechanics makes a huge difference in terms of use and quality of work to one that is produced to a low price point.
I have found that more often than not, if I buy cheap tools, they are either not robust, poor in use, don't do accurate work or fail. In the past I've done that and for me the waste of time and frustration simply isn't worth it.
I'm now at the point where almost all of my hand and power tools are mid to high end products of good brands. It pays off. If I have a problem, which is extremely rare, then I can justifiably go back to the supplier and have it fixed as well as receiving compensation for the effort involved. To me, that's a far more useful proposition - total cost of ownership being more important than purchase price.
In the last few years, I have had only one issue with what should be a decent branded tool. That was a DeWalt biscuit jointer - a mid priced product - which had a design defect. It was returned to the supplier - Axminster Power Tools, who collected it from me, refunded the purchase price and gave me an additional credit as well. I bought a Lamello one instead and that is superb.
As I say, I can understand that some people like to take a mainly cost view of purchases. That's fine by me, but there are broader issues and differing perspectives.
That depends on your definitions of good and decent and whether you want to throw something out after 2-3 years. To my mind, £50-60 does not buy a decent drill.
More to the point is that you can get better products at the same price.
What makes you think DIY tools are poor quality? When used for their intended use they are as reliable as any pro tool.
If someone likes expensive items then fine by me. Commons sense and business logic dictates to buy the tools that suit the job an usage.
If high precision is required for either DIY or pro then you buy accordingly.
No one is advocating cheap tools. It is a matter of getting the right tools for the job and usage. You appear to think that only the most expensive pro tool is of good quality and reliability, which of course is nonsense.
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