Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. I have a $50 gift certificate from Father's day that I've been saving for a rainy day (raining hard today in Hershey, PA BTW). I think based on what more than a few people have said here I may take a chance on that Milwaukee. A company that gives a 5 year guaruntee when the rest of the market is offering 1-2 years must be doing something right.
I'll let you know how I like it.
Chuck
Mortimer,
I know locally there is a store called "Battery Warehouse" that will rebuild batteries. It costs a fraction of the amount to buy new ones. Actually if you open the case of a battery, its just a simple role of what I assume is the actually setup. They simply replace that part. Give it a try on a battery your going to throw away.
Chuck
Keep in mind that the 5 year warrantee may only be on the drill and charger. The batteries may only be covered under a 1 year warranty and as we all know, that is the part that usually poops out first.
Leon,
Just picked up the drill over the lunch hour. You are right the warranty only covers the drill and charger for 5 years.
Thanks again,
Chuck
Just as an update. I called PC today to find out if they received my drill yet. The guy told me that they put a new motor in it and already shipped it back to me.
They earned back some points on the customer service front, but there's no way I should have burned out a motor for what I put it through.
I guess I have an extra cordless now.
By the way, I've used the Milwaukee for a couple of projects now and I'm very impressed. Great balance and power. We'll see how we do in the long term.
Chuck
What do you consider an extra cordless? I have two (PC 14.4 v and "something" 12 v) with a spare regular plug in for the pocket jig. With only one drill I seemed to spend all my time changing bits.
Josie
If you're installing cabinets, you'll love the new Hitachi 12v cordless impact driver/drill. It's unbelievable. Lightweight, tons of power, small enough to fit inside cabinets and even has a little light to help us over 40 find the screwhead in the dark.
A little spendy, but that's what's on my birthday list - and I already own the PC 19.2 v cordless with tons of torque (and bulk).
Good luck!
kb
I finally treated myself to a set of Milwaukee 18v cordless tools including a new drill. Their stuff is really impressive and I should have done it sooner. Besides I wanted to buy these tools before they become red Ryobis as a result of the recent purchase of the Milwaukee line by ryobi parent company.
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