Best cordless tool system

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Ryobi would have to slot in somewhere near the bottom of this too, right? Maybe slightly above B&D?

yeah i think that would be correct.

[CroFlames]

The big brands are all good, it boils down to preference I think. I like the versatility of DeWalt, so I choose to buy their tools. No complaints.

Although I do like the Makita impact driver. I believe (or maybe just perceive) that it has a higher RPM.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I do notice the vast majority of construction sites have guys using Milwaukee as well.

Originally Posted by V

surferguy has it right. I had to upgrade recently, and everyone I know in construction says that Milwaukee is the best,

Hasn't even been mentioned or made anyone's list but all the construction workers I talk to swear by Hilti.

[Fuzz]

Don't buy Skil stuff, ever. What a waste of money.

Dewalt are good value because you can often good decent sales on them. Make sure whatever you get, it's LiIon batteries now. They still sell a lot with the NiMH or Nicad, and they are heavier, take longer to charge and don't last as long. Check Amazon, they often have tool specials.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Hasn't even been mentioned or made anyone's list but all the construction workers I talk to swear by Hilti.

Hilti makes top notch tools, but they aren't as diverse as some of the other brands.

[bc-chris]

+1 for milwaukee. i really like mine. had them for quite a while and they still work great

[Reaper]

I have a lot of Lowes' Cobalt brand of power tools and highly recommend them. They have a five year no-hassle warranty. I fried a cordless drill after 14 months (should have used my corded drill on the last one that did it in) and managed to return it to Lowes for a full store credit without a receipt. I used that credit for a combo pack that I got on sale with an extra battery as a promo.

[Northendzone]

I am an outlier here, but I have a set of ryobi I tools and they have worked well for me. To me you already have some ryobi stuff, if they take the one plus battery, perhaps it makes the most economic sense to stay in that brand.

Home Depot is advertising a sale on these right now.

As a complete aside, it never fails to annoy me how expensive batteries for these tools are - batteries are like $70, or a driver/drill combo with two batteries is $150.

[Cyclops]

Calgary and Edmonton Fasteners usually have a good sale over the summer where you trade in your old cordless drill + battery and they give you 100 dollars off a Milwaukee combo kit. Multiple drills + batteries are allowed if I remember right.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Hilti makes top notch tools, but they aren't as diverse as some of the other brands.

In what way?
What are they missing in the cordless range that the others have?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by surferguy

If you have piles of money falling out of your pocket get the Festool. It puts everything else to shame.

I only have a basic Festool drill, but the thing is awesome. Glad I ponied up for one when the CAD was still relatively descent.

I think "best" is pretty relatively these days. The vast majority of the power tool brands that used to stand for quality (Bosch, Makita, Milwaukee) are just made in China now and just aren't as robust as they used to be. The ones that seem to still be made in a country with craftsmanship are some of the German brands like Festool, Metabo, Fein. And even those sometimes you have to double check the COO.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by T@T

If your like me and need tough tools Dewalt are boss. Milwaukee is probably better now days but 20 years ago I thought they were complete junk.

The 20 volt Dewalt kit kicks ass IMO.

There is nothing better than a Milwaukee set these days.

[calgarygeologist]

The M18 stuff is awesome in my opinion.

[Azure]

Another vote for Festool.

Their small drill is especially nice. Worth the money too as it'll last forever.

[Northendzone]

I have never heard of festool before and wow - $689 for a drill on Amazon. Amazon also has some festool drills for $2800. Not sure what a $2800 drill does that a $700 one does not.

HD has A six piece Milwaukee combo kit for $1250. Similar dewalt and Mikita combo are $700, while the ryobi is $329.

[Azure]

https://www.amazon.ca/Festool-564274...ywords=festool

$389 from Amazon. Great drill.

IMO it is worth the money.

[Delthefunky]

I put Makita ahead of Milwaukee, but I don't think you can go too wrong with one of Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt in that order.

[underGRADFlame]

Well don't I feel stupid... My Ryobi's have done me great for 5 years and a full basement development and are still going strong. Who knew they were crap all along.

[sun]

Originally Posted by underGRADFlame

Well don't I feel stupid... My Ryobi's have done me great for 5 years and a full basement development and are still going strong. Who knew they were crap all along.

Honestly, this just goes to show how close every brand is for intermittent use here or there. Maybe a couple times a month, with the odd big project thrown in. Ryobi is crap for someone who depends on their tools for a living, it's not crap for everyone else.

When I was using a drill all day long, 5x/week, years on end, I liked Hitachi or Mikita. Found Dewalt rather junky, but for a hobbyist, it's 110% fine. Rigid is decent bang for your buck and I think the warranty covers the batteries, which is nice.

If you're buying Festool or Metabo, that biz better be making you $$$.

tldr - they're all fairly interchangeable for a hobbyist, buy whatever is on sale.

[Wormius]

Could somebody maybe explain what sets the Festool cordless drill apart from the others?