Opinions sought on drill/driver

[John]

Talking to a mate in the pub last night and he reckoned that these drill/drivers are excellent. Bit worse for wear when I got home but seem to remember him saying that it comes with a lifetime parts and labour warranty and a free service every year (note that I don't know if that's available everywhere or is just a special offer local to the place he bought his from - which is not from the place linked to).

Anyway, what do the panel think?

would this be preferable

[Mike Dodd]

What's your planned use for either/or tool?

The Makita obviously serves as a drill/driver, and I had a quick play with one whilst waiting for a trade-counter screwfix order (they had one on display) - looks like a good buy for the money, felt well built for normal home-workshop use.

The AEG is an unknown to me - it looks like a lighter product, with a smaller chuck and battery. For light use it may be more convenient, easier to handle and lighter, but my guess is that it is, overall, a less capable tool. If you want a small drill/driver and don't expect any heavy use for it then the AEG may be a good buy.

But, at the same price point, I'd find it hard to buy the AEG over the Makita.

[John]

>>> or would this be preferable

>>> Cheers

Use will be just general DIY work around the home and I tend to agree with you Mike. We have a Screwfix trade counter a couple of miles away from home so I might just nip in there tomorrow and get the Makita.

John

[Rod]

Others have much more experience than I. But the AEG is primarily for screwdriving - it has a maximum speed of 575rpm - which really is too slow for most drilling and other purposes.

I don't think I have heard of an annual service for a drill. (At least not in recent decades.)

The only thing I can see against the Makita is that it has NiCad cells. Many here will say they work well - but I am certainly hoping that by the time I need a replacement, it will be LiIon (or whatever is the flavour.

[John]

>>> or would this be preferable

>>> Cheers

My existing drill/driver has NiCad batteries and a single battery pack has given me good service for more than 6 years (IIRC). I've no qualms on that front so I'm going to get the Makita at Screwfix tomorrow :o)

[Steve Firth]

Sounds a good move. I'd be buying one if I didn't have a nearly-new Ryobi 18V. The Makita feels much better made.

[The Medway Handyman]

> or would this be preferable

what you want it for dunnit?

An 18v Mak is going to see off any 12v machine, 42 Nm instead of 18Nm. The Mak is a combi, the AEG isn't. The AEG has Li-Ion batts, the Mak has Ni-Cd.

These are about as different as you could get. Chalk & cheese.

[Paul Matthews]

one with a very similar model code (DWP8390 IIRC) - on offer earlier this year at screwfix and it is excellent. While only nicad, I have found the batteries to hold a charge well between uses, and in use give a very usable working time.

My Makita is a pretty good compromise between being light and convenient, but still having enogh wallop to be useful.

[John Rumm]

quite different propositions. The AEG (IIRC a brand owned by TTI along with Ryobi and Milwaukee). They are quite well respected for their batter technology in general. I would expect it to be a good quality small light weight machine. OK for screw driving and the occasional bit of drilling. Small enough to get into tight corners etc. The max torque is fairly limited, and the speed pretty low.

The mak is a more general purpose machine - much bigger and heavier, has a hammer action so can drill masonry etc, and has a larger capacity chuck. At the money it looks like much better value for an all rounder. The only thing that would sway toward the AEG would be if you already had a decent drill driver and were looking for a small light machine for a specific purpose (e.g. flatpack assembly). Note the mak will come with a charger that will also do NiMh cells - so when you replace the batts you could go for much higher capacity ones. It won't do LiIon though since that is a different charging technology and battery fitting etc.

[Steven Campbell]

> or would this be preferable

sure on which type but Transtools are selling the AEG for £20 less than your price. only know as I recently bought a Makita driver from them and was interested when I saw the price of this. I don't have anything to do with Transtools, just a satisfied customer.

Steven.

[DavidM]

I bought the Makita £99.99 kit from Screwfix about a year ago, and have been well pleased with it for general diy and handyman work. Although the batteries are a bit low in capacity, with 3 of them supplied in the kit I've never been caught out. Sometimes struggles a bit in hard bricks or concrete, but then I just drill a 4mm pilot then open it out to whatever.

Highly recommended.

[John]

>>> or would this be preferable

>>> Cheers

Went and got it today :o)