In the next week or two, I plan to get a new cordless drill.
Was going to get a half inch, 18 volt NiCd battery model.
Co-worker said I should get a drill with the new lithium ion
battery pack. Someone else talked about a third battery type,
I forget the name of it.

Anyone have any suggestions/comments on the new crop of cordless drills.

I'm a huge fan to the Milwaukee tools.

I am NOT a carpenter/builder and do not use one every day, but do a lot of stuff and have had several over the years. Never have worn out the drill motor/apparatus. Always the batteries go kaput first and most are too expensive to replace efficiently. So, I buy a new drill and batts cheaper than replacement. Hate it !!

Regardless of price, there has not been any big diff in the performance of the various drills themselves - except for some good features on some - but there has been a diff in the quality of batts.

A friend who uses every day told me to most def go to the L-ion next time for several batt reasons. He got a deal on a Makita setup like that and loves it. I have not owned a Makita.

I don't yet know of a new/third batt type. Somebody here will.

That is why I always buy a $30-50 drill. You can get an 18v for that price, and by the time the battery dies, you just get a new setup. I have used $150 drills, and they perform exactly like the $50 drills. I think expensive cordless tools are one of the biggest scams out there...

+1 go red tools...

Bosch

+1 The cheaper ones are the best value to me. The damn batteries are more than the drill.

Another Milwaukee fan here......

I love cordless tools but, having said that, it's not a bad idea to have at least one corded drill. I bought a 1/2" Milwaukee corded drill because I don't use it very often and don't have to mess with charging the batteries before I finally get to use it. Plus, it can run all day without skipping a beat.

We had a similar discussion here a couple weeks ago. I have a Ridgid from Home Depot. LIFETIME WARRANTY ON THE BATTERIES. I don't think the Lithium batts will hold a charge quite as long as the NiCad, but they charge really fast in comparison so it doesn't make any difference that way.

A lot of drills use Ni-Cd (nickle-cadmium) batteries. They've been around for a long time. Their biggest drawback is the memory effect. Be sure to run the battery all the way down before recharging.

NiMH (Nickle-metal hydride) are used in some drills but not very many that I've seen. AA-sized NiMH batteries for electronics are great rechargeables. They don't have memory effects of charging.

Li (lithium) ion batteries have a pretty long life and don't have memory problems. It's what your cell phone has. They cost more though. But, the price of Li ion batteries keeps dropping.

Li ion is, IMO, the way to go if you are using the drill everyday - you will have less downtime. For homeowner use, you can probably do fine with a lower cost Ni-Cd if you stay aware of battery condition and have a charged one ready.

It is expensive to replace drill batteries. A less expensive way is to open the battery compartment and replace the innards from a battery store rather than buying a new, fully cased battery from HomeyD.

I can't say expensive cordless tool's are a scam as I've never owned any myself, but several years back I bought a off-brand cordless drill at Rural King on special for less that $20 and so far it still works fine for the occasional fix-it or DIY project.

Milwaukee and Makita make great cordless drills and Dewault runs a distant third if your on a budget. If you dont use it everyday you probably wont notice much difference.

While I have never had much luck with Ryobi tools,
maybe I should just go to Home Depot and get a cheap
18 volt Ryobi drill. I have a Ryobi chop saw and it
sort of still works.

Anyone have a Ryobi drill ?

Get the 1/2" for sure and then get a Ryobi.
Great value and all the 18 volt batteries interchange
no matter what tool and no mater what type

I asked this same question a couple of weeks ago. here is a link to the thread.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...rdless_drill_suggestions_my_#Post5261431

PM did a review of 9 Li ion drills:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/power-tools/4292657

Also, go to your local library and find the May 2010 issue of consumer reports where they reviewed 55 cordless drills and 13 impact drivers.

Id say Milwaukee. We use the drills and impact guns at work. I build military vehicles and believe me these guns get used hard!

We used to run Makita. Batteries wouldnt last at all. You'd be lucky to get a full day out of them, where as the Milwaukee's are lasting 2.5-3 days. We switched to Dewalt after Makita, and they werent too much better. Switched then to Hilty. The batteries lasted alot longer at first. After a months use or so, the Hilty batteries would die in a matter of a few hours. The clutches on the Hilty's wouldnt lst either. Have since switched to Milwaukee and except for an odd battery or two here and there, have been perfect. One trigger went bad. Other than that the Milwaukee's have been perfect.

The biggest difference in how long the batteries last will be the charger.

I have some dewalts and some milwauke stuff and I took the stock charger and just turned it into a contact cradle and use the battery charger I charge my batteries for my rc planes that cost around $200.

Beat the hell out of cordless tool on a daily basis doing commercial concrete jobs. If you're going to abuse it go with Milwaukee or Makita Lithium Ion(I prefer Milwaukee we seem to be busting a lot of Makita drills at work lately, but let me reiterate, we beat the HELL out of them). For strictly home use, in the garage, those around the house projects even a Black and Decker will get the job done for years. It really does depend on how much abuse it has to take. MY personal cordless tools are Milwaukee M18 series.

Ridgid has a lifetime warranty, which includes batteries. Never have to buy any more batteries if they fail to hold a charge. Can't beat that.

I bought the Rigid drill because of the battery warranty. I have replaced them once and they should be replaced again. One thing I've noticed is the lith.. batteries wont charge in cold weather when the NiCad would. Has anyone else noticed this.

The Ryobi's ability to interchange batteries with all the other tools is what sold me. I use them quite a bit and haven't had any problem. I just bought the impact driver set with 2 extra batteries and I should be running for quite a while.

If you use them as everyday tools and don't need the convenience factor of the other tools I'll second the Milwaukee or Rigid brands.

We hashed this over a couple of weeks ago as reported. If you are a casual user, the Ryobis or Craftsmans are the best value. If you are a tradesman, the more expensive brands will hold up longer and are more powerful. Milwaukee makes some nice tools. I have magnum hole shooters and they are the best corded drill motors around. Their cordless stuff is good too, but I don't think it is appreciatively better than some of the other stuff.

Batteries are the biggest expense. The best value right now is the Rigid (Home Depot brand) as they have lifetime warrantys- even on the batteries.

I have gone through 6 batteries on my impact driver- which I use 10x more than my 1/2 cordless drill. I got the batteries replaced under warranty (3 year at the time) now, they are life time.

The lithium-ion batteries are very light, hold their charge to the end but have some quirks- the cold weather charging is a new one to me!

I would like to have a new lithium battery as I pack my driver into the woods to install trail cameras!

Been thrashing a dewalt set for about 5 years at work and home. No complaints. One of the batteries is starting to not hold a charge as long as it used to but thats it so far. Also helps that everybody on the crew has dewalt.

THe biggest thing I noticed is if your using them alot, 4 batteries is about the minimum. Mainly so the batteries have time to cool down before they are put on the charger.

If it's a Ni-Cd battery, putting it through a couple of quick charge/discharge cycles seems to help the memory effect.

I use my cordless tools 5 days a week, all year long, as an electrician. My personal preference is Milwaukee (best clutch/ gear assembly IMHO). Makita would be second, DeWalt third.

As mentioned before, I'll reiterate that Li batteries don't like the cold, nor the heat. Use them above freezing, below 105-110*F, and they will treat you fine. Letting them cool down/ warm up before putting on the charger goes a long way also.

Seems like 2 years is what I get out of a battery from the three brands I mentioned.

Something to consider is other tool compatibility. Ie, if you want to get a cordless router also, DeWalt then will be the way to go.

Now, SawZall's are a totally different story....

I manage a skilled trades dept. that builds equipment and installs at outlying locations. These guys are hard on tools and use them daily. Have not been impressed the last couple of years with Milwaukees lasting and have switched to Dewalts which have been pretty good. In all honesty the nicad 18 volt drills that is Menards house brand have been tougher than nails Russ

My experience was that if you don't use the drill at least about every third day, the batteries were going to pout and die of neglect. I went back to a corded drill. (Of course, the battery technology may have improved since I gave up on them, but I'm not going to spend the money to find out.)

I use mine hard for 3 days and then maybe go 3 weeks without. I don't think that hurts the newer batteries at all. I am surprised to hear the negative things about lithium and cold as they are the only ones that really work in my camera when it is cold; AA lithium that is.

That's the bonus to lithium is that they will hold a charge much longer than NiCD and NiMH batteries, the other being weight savings for the same capacity. But they are much harder to charge properly and of all 3 battery types NiCD's can be "abused" much harder.

Do any of you guys run Panasonic's?..... They even whoop the milwaukee.........

When my Ryobi took a dump after years of use I started looking for a new drill. Read some reviews in the woodworking magazines and they all seemed to praise a newcomer on the scene as the do-all be-all drill. I went down to my local dealer (a small locally owned place that stocks only top quality products and sells them at very reasonable prices). Had my mind set on this new wonder drill. Talked to the manager of the shop and he showed me a Milwaukee, same power, that was $20 less. He said the difference is in the bells and whistles. Inside the new drill had plastic gears. Milwaukee all metal. I have used that thing without mercy for several years and it keeps ticking. Can't beat Milwaukee.

Don,
when I was an apprentice, we used Panasonic. Good cordless drills, but very hard to find, and pricey. I have been told that all the big names have their battery cells produced by Panasonic.

Much as I use the Milwaukee Sawzall, for years and years,
without any problems. The 18 volt Ryobi Torque IV is on sale
for $69. Think I'm going to HomeyD this weekend and get one.