Thread: Cordless Drill

I own a Makita 12v and have had it for about 5 years and its never missed a beat. It was around $240 then and its probably a bit cheaper than that because the 14 18 volts are not all that much dearer. Depending on where you go looking for them. Bosch green from memory are under the $200 mark and work really well. Had one at the last place I used to work at and it was a good drill.

I have a bosch green and it's good. $169 with two batteries I think.

I have a couple of bosch greens, a 12v & a 14.4. Good drills, 2 speed, one handed chuck, 1hr charge.

2 batts, fast charger, & 2 speed should be on your list I reckon. 1/2" chuck would be nice but not essential.


Cheers.....................Sean

Thanks for the info. I think it may depend on where I go shopping but I just wanted to see if there were any suggestions before I go. I have never owned a cordless drill and my current corded drill only cost me $30, so the quality is obviously not that great.

I have one of those cheap corded drills - bought it in 1968 and the damn thing wont break so I can buy a reliable piece of kit.

Well mine will never break but it is hard to always have access to a power point and it is not powerful enough to screw in screws, so I have to do that by hand.

I have a bosh green for about 10 years, and it has never missed a beat. i am happy with it

Bunnies has some 14V Bosch green with 2 batteries for $98. Can't go wrong there, but also I've seen some 12V and 14V Hitachi's with 2 batteries + light(?) for around $150, nice bit of gear for the money.

I've got a Makita 9.6V that has lasted for years and years and has enough grunt to drill and drive most things for a useful length of time. Two batteries make it always at hand since I rarely run down one battery before the other is charged. Before the 9.6 I had a Makita 7.something that was definitely underpowered.

I doubt 9.6V is common anymore and I'd guess anything above that is going to have enough grunt for usual handyman work. Weight is important. If I had to replace mine I would be looking for the smallest well balanced one that was easy to wave around in the air!

If you can find a kit that has two batteries and a torch I would recommend you get that. I find I use the torch almost as much as the drill! A torch with a drill battery pack has a swiveling head, gives great illumination in all sorts of awkward locations like under sinks and crawl spaces and lasts a long time.

I might have a look next weekend. Thankyou for the info. The voltage is a concern because I don't know what that really converts to in the actual power side of things. I am now armed with enough info to make a good choice.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Weight is important. If I had to replace mine I would be looking for the smallest well balanced one that was easy to wave around in the air!.

Then, Grasshopper, you are looking for the Festool C12.

It's only money.

Ended up getting a Ryobi for $179. It is good.

Originally Posted by DvdHntr

Ended up getting a Ryobi for $179. It is good.

Hope you have better luck than me. I got a ryobi pack for Christmas a couple of years back (14.4V I think). It was average right from the start. I was used to using my dads Makita. 2 years on and the battery is dying with hardly any use and it's torque has degraded alot since new (borrowed a friends new battery just to make sure). It's just turned me off ryobi completely. Didn't even do any real work with it that I could point to being the cause.

My next cordless will either be a makita or a bosch I think. Probably the bosch for $98 from bunnings that I keep reading about (though not afraid to spend up to $200). Can anyone comment whether it has decent torque to drill through hardwood occasionally and not kill the motor?

I want something small with alot of torque but at a DIY price range. Will be installing power points and drilling in semi tight places so don't want anything too huge. Also be good if it could take larger drill bits, larger than my ryobi could at least. Going to take a trip into bunnings to check things out tomorrow. Wish it was after christmas so the sales start. The only thing good about getting a crap drill the first time round is that you know the second time round what features are important.

Have the bosch IXO and it's bloody great for what it is so I'm looking forward to it's bigger brothers.

Check the Bosch at Bunnings carefully, I'm pretty sure it's only a single speed drill.

As mentioned above, I reckon 2 speeds are essential on a cordless drill.


Cheers....................Sean