Heads up on Home Depot deal

[Unquestionably Confused]

Recent talk about moving from the Ryobi Ni-Cads had me check out Home Depot.

They are running a couple of specials pre-Father's Day.

1st deal: $99 combo which includes 2 18v 1.3AH Li-Ion batteries, dual chemistry charger (Li-Ion and Ni-Cad) and two tools, your choice of

A, 1/2" drill and 1/4" impact driver

B. Reciprocating saw and 3/8" drill

C. Circular saw and 3/8" drill

I really only wanted the batteries and charger but figured by the time I spent $130 for the big batteries and standalone charger, I might just as well grab two tools and two of the smaller batteries for an additional $70. Now we have a nice cordless reciprocating saw that either of us can use for yard work, etc. Seems fairly sturdy so..

Finally, they have their BEST Li-Ion battery, the 4.0AH beast on sale in a special 2 for 1 pack which also sells for $99 or half price on the individual batteries.

If you have the original blue Ryobi tools and are looking to upgrade your power supply, now's the time to jump. I've never had a complaint with the tools themselves but the NiCad packs, being NiCads, are a piss poor PITA

[Morgans]

"Unquestionably Confused" wrote

You will find that the small batteries are only for very light duty jobs. They simply don't push enough amps, and don't last very long, too.

Seriously, invest in the big ones. You will be much happier.

[Greg Guarino]

They had the same deal at Christmastime and I bought the two 4ah batteries. I'm still on the first charge. I've used them intermittently, but even if they had just sat on a shelf that's not bad.

[woodchucker]

That is a good deal for the drill/impact.

I have seen a lot of contractors using them, mainly because they are cheap, the batteries are cheap, and if they walk they are cheap.

A few said they were impressed with them. They just got tired of Dewalts battery pricing and the short longevity forthe Nicads.

I bought the drill for 69 w/2 batteries. For that price I could not go wrong.

I still use my hitachi's though mostly. I don't need the big 18v most of the time.

[Puckdropper]

"Morgans" wrote in news:ll3o34$f5i$ [e-mail]:

I invested in some bigger batteries for my Makita tools. I was afraid the big batteries would throw off the balance of the drill & driver, but they don't. The only difference is a little more weight and that's it.

Puckdropper

[Bob La Londe]

Too bad. I gave my Ryobi set of cordless tools away a few years ago, because the batteries (even new replacements) sucked excrement though a cocktail saw, and went back to all Milwaukee cordless stuff. I'll pass your message on to the guy I gave them to though.

[krw]

That's why I have both Bosch 12V (10.8V) and 18V sets of drivers and drills. The 12V models are far lighter and easier to use. I end up using them 90% of the time, not just for overhead work.

I stopped using a drill as a driver the first time I used an impact driver. Nice! I also have non-impact drivers but they don't get used much.

[Greg Guarino]

My first cordless was a Ryobi 12V. I'd have bought it 16 years ago. It was nicely balanced, drove screws well and the batteries lasted a long time. So long in fact that I pretty much stopped using corded drills (except for hammer-drill work).

When the batteries for that drill finally died I bought an 18v. The 12v batteries for my old drill were no longer made; Ryobi had changed their

12v drill design. I had been very happy with the 12v and expected similar - in fact improved - performance. I picked up a circular saw and a recip saw used that would use the same batteries.

The new drill was heavier and somewhat more powerful, as expected. But the batteries (NiCads) didn't seem to hold a charge for as long. I didn't do a scientific study, but it seems to me that the subsequent NiCads I bought as replacements had even shorter lives. I'd have to make sure I charged them in the middle of the week if I had a project coming up on the weekend. And I pretty much never used the cordless saws.

The point of this is that apparently not all NiCad cells are of equal quality.

One "plus" was that I acquired three "blue" drills in the course of buying replacement batteries. I'd get them when the drills were on a ridiculous sale; pretty much the same price as the batteries alone.

I now have three Li-Ion batteries, two of the 4AH and one smaller one. I have to say that these (so far) have rekindled my former relationship with cordless tools. They charge quickly (if memory serves; I've only charged the big ones once). And the tools have more power too. I've even used the circular saw a few times. One of those was to trim a few inches off a piece of scrap ply that wouldn't quite make it into my car. It was handy to do it right there in the driveway. And having multiple drills that are reliably charged is a real convenience. Why change bits?