apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am pretty happy with my Ryobi. I have a cordless drill and cordless 5' circular saw (along with a flashlight attachment that has come in handy as well). Love them both.

there was a recent review of the newer stye lithium ion drills in Maxim for this months issue ( i know it's not the best magazine but sometimes it has good info, like about drills)

it compared 4 of the new ones. If you don't know lithium ion drills have a battery pack that is lighter and supposed to last longer then the older style.

There choice out of the tested was the new ryobi one. It's neon lime green, so it should be pretty easy to pick out at home depot. you can attack the batteries to any of their tools as well, and i think they make like 30 different types.

so the drill itself performed good. long life, strong as heck. it drilled through a padlock in about 10 seconds. I don't know how many people need that skill, but it could come in handy...

i have craftsman right now with the vacuum and circular saw set, but if i was buying a new set it would be the new ryobi one.

I am a closet installer and have been using the same DeWalt cordless drill like one shown in photo since early 1990's. It still works like new and shows no signs of quitting.

I took woodshop back in high school. We had a whole bunch of different brands, but the only ones to consistently survive were the Makita's. They took a beating and still came out working.

To keep the batteries going longer, you have to remember to drain them before you charge them again. That's why they come with a flashlight.

we have a bosch...

I had a Dewalt and burned it out, now have a Skil and will go with Makita next time

I miss Hilti and Festool in the survey, being the only brands I've used to some extent. The Hilti-machines I've been using was great for rough handling, we used them on a construction site where I worked, and I remember throwing it around like it was a rock - even dropped one from 10m down on a concrete slab, and it just got scratched.

For precision drilling and such, I like the Festool C12, a much smaller and more slender machine. Being a Swede, all I do all day is assembling IKEA-furniture, and the Festool really comes in handy, especially with all the nifty gadgets, like the 90-degree chuck.

I think both of them are German, and it really shows in the build quality of them :)

// Olle

I bought a Craftsman 1/2" drill 2 years ago, I'm very happy with it as it drills, hammer drills, and drives screws. The set also came with two batteries and a charger and was at least 30% cheaper than the equivalent competing drills. It also got good reviews in Consumer Reports.

I have a Craftsman drill, circular saw, and shop light, all 19.2 volt with interchangable batteries. They're great, and the batteries have a good charge life.

I just bought an AEG, but corded so I guess I probably shouldn't be answering this survey... Anyway, I'm really pleased with it.
When I was doing my research, it did seem like a lot of the brands named above are just different horses from the same stables following a lot of consolidation in the market in recent years. For example, Black&Decker and De Walt are produced by the same company but for different audiences.

I've got a set of the Craftsman 19.2v mentioned above. Used it pretty heavily through a condo remodel (screwing through cement board, lots of screwing into steel studs, drilling metal) and it's held up well. Battery life could be better with these heavy jobs, but charge time is quick so it's no problem with two batteries. Other tools are a little cheesy, but nice to have a small circ saw and recip saw on the ready without having to go borrow their full size cousins from suburban friends.

Panasonic all the way........all the good builders and installers already know this. Anyone want to know more just ask....

Actually there might be other drills that are just as good, but I love my Makita.