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14 years ago
Porter Cable Alert
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14 years ago
Take a look at Panasonic. Had mine for 8 years now with perhaps light to medium use. Had the batteries rebuilt once a year ago. Still runs better than I do. satisfied customer, j4
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14 years ago
Good choices, but I like my Panasonic.
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14 years ago
evodawg wrote in news:h3bqrr$ilk$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
I've got a Makita I just love. It was part of a combo pack, with drill, impact driver, and flashlight. The set with the flashlight was 4 dollars cheaper than the set without (go figure), so I got the flashlight.
The keyless chuck on the drill works exactly how one is supposed to work. Place the bit in, and give it a spin, then several clicks. The drill bit isn't moving.
Time of ownership: About a year, year and a half Usage: light
Puckdropper
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14 years ago
Dunno if the new dewalts are like the old ones, but I keep hoping mine will die so I have an excuse to get a new one with the three-speed gearbox instead of two.
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14 years ago
I have a 9.6 and a 12 Volt Panasonic and they're both fantastic. that 12V drill with 4 Ah NiMH batteries has more torque than some 24V el-cheapo brands that I have had the misfortune to be handed to use.
The 9.6 is a beaut for working in confined spaces (although there's smaller gear out now) and has the most delicate torque adjustment I have _ever_ seen on any cordless drill. It still has much more torque than the 11.2V Li-Ion Bosch driver I bought (but that one is much smaller).
I know a couple of builders who swear by their Metabos. I know a plumber who said he had nothing but (battery) trouble with a Metabo. I only have mains powered Metabos myself (top notch), but I won't vouch for the cordless.
-P.
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14 years ago
I'll vote for the Panasonic as well. I've had the 19.2 volt for about 2 years with medium to heavy use. No problems other than its weight when drywalling ceilings. It has plenty of torque and the batteries recharge in about 20 minutes.
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14 years ago
I would go for Makita too. My wife got a combo pack for me 3-4 years ago because my older Makita was "bound" to die some day. Not sure how old the old one is but I bought it when local Builders Squares went belly up so that puts in in the late 1990's. To paraphrase Mark Twain "rumors of the old Makita's demise were greatly exaggerated. It looks like an old, battered stockcar but its going strong. All are 14.4 but not hammer drills. The newer combo has the impact driver which has been a good tool too.
RonB
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14 years ago
Panasonic was probably the best although replacement batteries 12 years ago were prohibitively expensive so I switched to DeWalt. No complaints there either. I finally switched to Makita with the death for the second time of the DeWalt batteries. The Makita is my current and I have the drill/driver and impact driver set. This combination has worked well for the last 4.5 years although I had to replace one of the pair of batteries after 3 years. Recently I some how received, for free, a Bosch 18 volt Lion Impact Driver and while it is probably much stronger than my Makita 12 volt driver I prefer the feel of the Makita. The Bosch seems to be made for smaller hands as it does not afford a natural feeling to pull the trigger to full throttle position without having to focus on that action. I prefer the chuck on the Makita impact driver over the Bosch. I'll probably be giving both a good workout/comparison this week while helping Swingman install kitchen cabinets in a new home he has been building. We'll see which I end up reaching for the most.
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14 years ago
using Dewalts for 7-9 years, but the most recent one has problems.
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14 years ago
My most recent is a 12V Bosch Li-Ion drill to go with the impact and regular driver. Last year I bought a couple of Dewalt 18V drills and a 12V. I don't like the 12V much (hence the Bosch) but the 18V drills are OK. BTW, I bought the second 18V because the batteries that came with it were worth more than I paid for the drill. I also have an older Makita 12V and PC 14.4V, but their batteries are starting to go (replaced once).
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14 years ago
I'm pretty happy with my 24v Firestorm. It's got all the power I ever needs. I just wish it were a bit lighter ... or I was a bit younger.
Larry
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14 years ago
I'm still out on the Lithium ion for shops. I had a '''skill''' wrench that died and shorted. - I say shorted since the supply is opened and not producing voltage. Might be just that lower cost brand or battery .
For me, consider the full use. I got a 1/2" instant stop hammer drill. It drills and it hammer drills. Nice for a shop.
I wish it had gotten (or will) get a hammer drill that hammers only. Then the SDS spade or points/chisels could be used when needed. Seems more plumbing but there are other applications as well.
Mart>> 7 years with my 14.4 Hammer Drill/Driver using it everyday it was finally
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14 years ago
I checked most of what has been recommended here. Think I'll go for the Makita. The Panasonic is really expensive and I didn't find the hammer/drill driver combination. I have seen the Makita on job sites and everyone that has one says nothing but great things about it. I do miss my
14.4 PC though. Hey you want to sell your old one? hahaha. I've had the Dewalt 12 volt and didn't think highly of it. It was also stolen with my 14.4 PC but I didn't think it was that great a loss, batteries were going anyway after a year of use.- Vote on answer
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14 years ago
After reading the responses here, think I'll go with the Makita. Panasonic is a little pricey but I'm sure worth it. I see Makita's on job sites all the time and everyone says nothing but good things about them. Someone mentioned FireStorm, yeah right! I need this drill to work everyday. Not a weekend warrior drill like the PC has turned into!
Thanks to all
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14 years ago
I also have a Dewalt 12V that I bought just to have a ligher drill.
18V drills are simply too heavy to work overhead, or under cabinets, for long. I don't like it either, so I bought the Bosch. I'll likely give the Dewalt to the kid since I have no use for Dewalt 12V batteries now. The PC is just a spare now, so... I have a few other Makita tools that use the stick batteries, so I'll keep them around too.- Vote on answer
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14 years ago
Porter-Cable was actually decent for a while after the takeover. However, in the past year or so they decided to make it a higher-end homeowner brand rather than a "pro" brand, so they introduced a bunch of cheaper tools with a somewhat different colour scheme. Now DeWalt is their only real higher-end branch.
As for drill/drivers, I like my Makitas a lot.
Chris
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14 years ago
Ended up buying this one today. I brought my PC to factory fix it shop and I won't get it back for 10 days. I have a large cabinet install job on Friday and didn't think it would go over well asking the customer if I could use his weekend warrior cordless.
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14 years ago
it are lighter and smaller for the same torque.
Chris
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14 years ago
Every now and then I need it. This is not the big hammer/driver. It's still very light 3.8 pounds