dewalt vs other cordless tools

[JHZR2]

Hello, currently I have some Bosch 10.8v tools (driver and impact driver). I have a 19.2v IR impact which is GREAT.

I'm looking for a drill and a few other things, but have no favorite brand. Most of my corded tools are Milwaukee or makita, fwiw.

Anyway, I've seen the benefits of nanostructured iron phosphate chemistries for lithium batteries. This makes me inclined to go with dewalt.

Any thoughts? If IR had a bigger selection of stuff beyond impact, Ratchet, drill and light, I'd just stay with their stuff.

Is DeWalt truly decent when it comes to cordless tools? It seems that they have a great selection of stuff. Would makita or Milwaukee (or hitachi or any other) be a better choice quality wise?

I'm inclined to go with battery chemistry over brand, but still want top notch stuff. Is dewalt a smart choice?

 

[StevieC]

We have owned only a few Dewalts and they are rock solid reliable. One of the cordless drills we have is over 10 years old and still going strong.

 

[cderalow]

I have had 0 faults with any dewalt product used.

if i were to survey the brands used by most of the contractors on my jobsite, it'd be dewalt or ryobi (ryobi because they're relatively cheap)

 

[Nyquist]

I know several construction workers and contractors. The only thing they will buy is DeWalt regardless of price.

I have a DeWalt 14.4V cordless power drill with 3 torque settings and 21 speeds. It's also keyless. It has done everything from putting shelves together, drilling holes, spinning off lug nuts once they've been broken loose, and it is still going after 4 years. The batteries are losing some of their capacity, but overall I would call the drill money well spent.

I have a friend who is a contractor who has had the same DeWalt 18V cordless drill for 9 years and is just now starting to show its age. It's whole life it was used for normal drill stuff in addition to being their gout mixer for tiles. The mixing is really tough on drives, but that drill keeps going.

I wanted to get on my future father-in-law's super good side so I got him a DeWalt 18V. I'm his favorite son now.

 

[NYEngineer]

I have an 18 volt DeWalt for about twelve years.

 

[refaller]

DeWalt has extremely good tools- but they cost a lot. My b-i-l works for Black and Decker and he told me that for me (regular joe does work around the house) it is best to save money and buy BD or Ryobi so I did. Still have had no problems with either brand. For a contractor, he said that DeWalt is hands down better from a long lasting stand point. He likened my getting DeWalt to someone getting a Lexus when a Toyota would do just fine.

ref

 

[MGregoir]

I sell Dewalt, Makita and Milwaukee products. I buy Makita because I never see Makita products coming back in need of service. If I were buying Dewalt, I would not buy anything except the XRP/Nano lines of professional products.

Milwaukee stuff seems to be hard on batteries although generally overbuilt otherwise, the higher-end Dewalt is good but anything that isn't a part number carried by places like Grainger generally is a "consumer" product that's B&D for more money. Dewalt's pro products are good but they put the brand on too many products that aren't so good.

An example is 5" grinders a local fabrication shop bought. Of the thirteen they bought, five of them quit working on the first day and they didn't bother unpacking the rest. They returned them and replaced them with Makita and I have not heard about them since.

Personally, I'd skip the Dewalt and go Makita.

 

[Amkeer]

We usually go through 1 or 2 drills every 2 years. We buy Dewalt brand cordless drills. My stuff gets used heavily, so durability is an issue.

 

[duaneb9729]

I have been a dyed the wool Dewalt guy for years, but after using a coworkers Makita cordless drills and saws, i wont be buying any more Dewalt products

 

[CrAlt]

I have an older 14.4V dewalt. The one with hammer drill, 21troq settings and 3 speeds. Use it almost every day at work.


I heard the newer ones where made overseas and not so good.

 

[SZR48207]

I just picked up a combo set at Lowe's today. It's an 18V Porter Cable 1/2" cordless drill and 6.5" circular saw, both powered by batteries. Kit comes with free carrying bag, charger, 2 batteries.

The kit was going for $109, but on the opposite wall the cordless drill ALONE was $99. I eye'd the separately sold circular saw and it was $54.99.

I guess I got a good deal? I've been needing both, anyway.

Real nice thing seems to be that the 18V NiCD packs charge in 1 hour on a smart charger.

FWIW, a lot of tool brands are owned by Black and Decker now. Includes DeWalt.

 

[cderalow]

Originally Posted By: duaneb9729
I have been a dyed the wool Dewalt guy for years, but after using a coworkers Makita cordless drills and saws, i wont be buying any more Dewalt products


Makita makes exceptional products as well, but you don't see anywhere near as much of their turquoise blue on jobsites as you see the dewalk black & yellow.

you really can't go wrong with either.

 

[JHZR2]

I wonder if that is because of NASCAR advertising or something else...

 

[cderalow]

In my mother's world... it's because of the colors(no lie)

in my world, it's mainly quality & ease of return/repairs as necessary, and most stores carry the extra batteries, chargers etc.

not everyone carries makita.

 

[PW01]

My brother is a contractor, and uses Makita drills/saws. When he started out, he used Dewalt but switched to Makita as he had to replace tools.

 

[jeff8407]

I have a full set of Dewalt 18v cordless tools (cicular saw, reciprocating saw, hammer drill, drill, light, right-angle drill, driver, impact--most of these I purchased as "reconditioned") that I use for my rental properties--I get tools and get to write them off my taxes.... I just upgraded to the lithium batteries and they are 1/2 the weight and are just fantastic. I've been acquiring the tools over ten years and they all are going strong.

P.S. Didn't Dewalt buy Porter-Cable? Do the batteries now fit each other?

 

[MGregoir]

DeWalt's service center is slow, and we often end up selling someone a Makita because they get fed up with waiting for their DeWalt to be repaired. Makita and Milwaukee will turn stuff around in less than a week, usually we have to phone DeWalt and shake them down because stuff that went away two months ago still is not back.

 

[hillbilly]

I do ironwork. Most of our tools are DeWalt, they are tough. They have been dropped 20 feet or more, and keep working. Every Makita we have bought burnt up; grinder, right-angled drill. FWIW

 

[tdi-rick]

Metabo or Hilti for cordless tools. (be prepared for sticker shock !)

DeWalt, Makita, Panasonic and Hitachi are all very good when it comes to cordless power tools, although Makita are having more of their lower end stuff produced in China now. Even a Makita impact drill I have is made in their Chinese factory.

I've spoken to a a few tool salesman, and they reckoned that they have had a few DeWalts come back, but never a Metabo for battery related problems.

 

[cornfused]

I'm in industrial maintenance, I say dewalt hands down!
we've tried the others and they didn't last half as long. even for personal use I'd buy a dewalt they are simply the best. I have burnt up a dewalt, but it was considerably harder than the multiple bosch and makita we've smoked. Plus once we broke a chuck on the dewalt, went to menards and bought some off brand replacement and it worked fine, And if anything were to fail or break it's as easy as going to grainger . com or somewhere else to get a replacement part, (maybe the same for one of the others also though?)