The battery on my old B&D cordless drill/driver seems to have packed up.
I'd like to replace it with a cordless combi but most of them seem a bit expensive for the use I'd find for it. Two cheapish examples I've found are the Ryobi CMI-1202 - 12v Maxi Combi Cordless from Machine Mart (£88) and the Erbauer 14.4V Combi Drill from Screwfix (£99).
I'd be grateful for opinion on which is the better of these two....I can't really afford deWalt or Makita.
TIA
Ryobi.
You would be far better off with something from Makita's range that is one voltage step down and perhaps becoming end of line and therefore on offer - e.g. a 12v Makita product rather than an OEM 14.4v.
The Makita motor, battery and speed control is far better than these other OEM products.
To illustrate this in a different part of the market, there was a review in the U.S. of 18v cordless products. Panasonic's entry was a 15.6v tool and for the reasons mentioned is outperformed the 18v products by a very long way in terms of power, number of holes and number of screws that could be driven on a charge.
Otherwise, if you can stretch to £120, you can have a Makita 8228
14,4v drill. I have one and use it for a wide range of jobs from screwdriving to drilling up to quite substantial holes in wood to masonry holes for most fixing purposes. Beyond this for say 12.7mm holes and above in masonry I use an SDS drill.The hammer action on the smaller cordless drills really doesn't achieve a lot. For it to become useful, you need to go to the 18-24v products - then you are better off with a mid range cordless and an SDS for the big jobs.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
I agree with most if not all of the above. You'll also find that a 'combi' drill is heavy and unwieldy to use whereas a non-combi drill/driver is quite sufficient. In fact I use my 12v 2nd hand Makita with quality (JoRad) bits to drill masonry holes in everything except really hard brick and concrete.
If I wanted to get a new drill driver I'd look at a non-combi Makita/Blue Bosch or DW product.
Also, go to Wickes and look at their grey cased pro range at around £80-90. Made by Kress in Germany and rebadged for Wickes. Well worth considering, and they also have 2 or 3 yr guarantees. I would tend to go for the Wickes/Kress machines.
£120? Cor! He can get a Kress/Wickes 14.4v and a Kress/Wickes circular saw for that amount.
Now that is sense at last.
He could also get lunch for two with wines at Le Manoir for that. The midweek break is a little more.
Both are memorable.
You're so kind.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
If you are happy with the old drill why not have the battery pack re-celled? - it will probably be "better than new", once done.
This demonstrates the marketing of these companies, or is it because they are in Screwfix? These three brands, people here put up as the "best". Makita, yes, but quality falling, the other two no Even the DeWalt service agent tells people to buy other brands. Yet there are other brands which mainly are superior that never get mentioned, like Hitachi, Atlas Copco, Panasonic, etc.
I have certainly not noticed Makita quality falling. Remarkably reliable, IME.
I have a Hitachi circular saw which is pretty good and solid. In its price range, it has reviewed as best of breed and is good to use.
Panasonic make excellent drill/screwdrivers, but they are quite expensive. If I ever needed an additional one, I would consider their product.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
As well as the drill and saw?
But money is the barrier to you, so why dismiss this brand?
If you're otherwise happy with it, replace the cells. Just about all the usual suppliers - RS, CPC, Maplin etc do tagged cells suitable for this.
Although these will seem expensive, they are much better quality cells than the ones fitted to el cheapo new drills, and the quality of the cells has a *vast* influence on the overall performance.
I am not sure what you are trying to say here, but assume that it is that money is not the barrier.
On that point, I have already made it clear that this is one factor, but not necessarily the most important.
I haven't dismissed Panasonic at all. When I bought the Makita regular and angle drills, I didn't find information on Panasonic so did not consider them.
Since then, they have been reviewed well, so if buying now, I would consider Panasonic. .andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
No. They have an August offer for lunch at £60 a head.. Alternatively, you can go for the mid-week break with overnight stay and dinner for approx. £500-600. For a special occasion, that is truly something. I did forgo some power tool purchases for it, but the return on investment was well worthwhile.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
No return on investment at all. Just a feelgood factor. What people,have when they buy over marketed and priced power tools.
I do wish you'd try using a decent cordless drill for say screw driving and compare it to the cheap shit. Perhaps then you'd shut up. You catalogue browsing types really are a pain - like kids who quote 0-60 times for cars as being the only important thing.
Oh the ROI was considerable - you can trust me on that. The feelgood factor wasn't bad either.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
If you are on a budget why not consider one of the Bosch green range of combi drills like the PSB 18 VE-2 it has a much better hammer action than some of those that you've mentioned. You can get factory reconditioned ones from Healys Tools for £79 complete with 2 batteries.
Aarrrgh !! A curse on birthdays and bargain hunters.
My birthday this week and SWMBO [bless her !] knowing I was hankering after a new drill, last week popped into Wickes and spied this 14.4V cordless hammerdrill for £19.99...reduced from £29.99. It's only got one battery and is green, not grey as I understand the Kress made ones are. What is it ? - a cheapo Chinese effort I suspect.
I haven't opened it so perhaps Wickes will take it back, although it's more than seven days since she bought it, failing that they'll hopefully part-exchange it for a better one.
Anyway the poor love has agreed to stick to the usual bottle of Malt for my birthday and leave tool selection to te experts :-)
But thanks for the helpful suggestions.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.