Thread: Which drill kit combo should I go for??

A couple of stores I talked with said Makita is not what it used to be - especially after they reduced their warranty. Still great stuff but other brands come more highly recommended. Always heard good stuff about Milwaukee but they were just priced out of my decision by lack of extra battery.

Batteries aside, I am generally pleased with the way tools are headed. They are far more ergonomic than they once were and therefore more pleasurable to use. I simply hated using some of the older square-handled monstrosities of yesteryear. But as long as my freckle points down batteries will be the archilles heal of cordless tools and it's the one thing we, the consumer, know little about when considering a tool for purchase.

Originally Posted by dakotax3

Batteries aside, I am generally pleased with the way tools are headed. They are far more ergonomic than they once were and therefore more pleasurable to use. I simply hated using some of the older square-handled monstrosities of yesteryear. But as long as my freckle points down batteries will be the archilles heal of cordless tools and it's the one thing we, the consumer, know little about when considering a tool for purchase.

Agreed although I would have to say that batteries have had a similar leap forward when considering Ni-Cd to Li-ion. Smaller, lighter, higher capacity, don't fade and (should) last longer. I never consider Ni-Cd stuff any more. Worth the extra cost.

A point to note with Makita is that they have a huge range of tools, and as skins only. Depends on what you are doing in the future. I have about six skin, all good tools, but can't compare to other brands I haven't tried.

HTH

Leyton,

Did you end up buying the Dewalt? I am thinking of getting a drill / driver kit for myself for christmas so I would love to hear what you end up with

Yes I went with the DeWalt in the end.
$399 for drill driver, impact driver, 2 x 1.5Ah batteries and a 3rd via redemption
(you have till december 23 to purchase for the battery)
3 year warranty, 1 year battery.

Made a bit easier as I had bunnings store credit to use and some gift vouchers but I would have gone for that anyway. Best mix of what I was looking for.

Most people have good things to say about DeWalt, warranty was good. They are very compact too which I was looking for. $100 under budget (although wife didn't accept argument that it leaves me with $100 to spend on other tools).

Thanks inferno6688 for suggesting to look at DeWalt, I always assumed they would be too expensive.

Congratulations on your purchase, batteries should be also 3 years warranty. Make sure if you are going to load the drill driver up that you use 1st gear,as you will prematurely wear out the battery in 2nd gear as it spins to fast compromising on low down torque

Originally Posted by VEK TOOLS

Congratulations on your purchase, batteries should be also 3 years warranty.

So the XR range has 3 years on the battery??
I read DeWalt website and it says register to get 3 year warranty but I assumed that was only on the tool. Guy at the store said 3 years on the tool, 1 year on the battery.

I might contact DeWalt to find out.

Absolute bonus if that is the case!

Great choice. There are alot of good packages around that price range, so it is definitly hard to choose!

now u will want to just find screws to put in so u can use ur driver!

Originally Posted by VEK TOOLS

Congratulations on your purchase, batteries should be also 3 years warranty. Make sure if you are going to load the drill driver up that you use 1st gear,as you will prematurely wear out the battery in 2nd gear as it spins to fast compromising on low down torque

Contacted DeWalt - they said 12 month warranty on batteries except for "yellow top premium" batteries that have a 24 month warranty.

I went and did the rounds this morning and came to the same conclusions. its down to Makita or Dewalt.

I am pretty sold on the dewalt gear however I am worried that the 1.5Ah batteries will drive me nuts. 3 3Ah batteries for $480ish makes the Makita a pretty good deal in this respect.

I don't know how exclusive to bunnings the DCK280C2 kit is. I have seen it at a number of online stores and they had a kit at my local glenfords tool shop. The good about this is they havn't made a cheaper versioon of the tools for bunnings like Makita does. The drill driver is a DCD780 and the impact driver is a DCF885 - standard dewalt tools.

Leyton: have you had a chance to test out battery life yet? Its the only thing stopping me from going and picking up a kit.

No and unfortunately not until after Christmas as it is going under the tree

Definitely for battery life the Makita is better value - I don't use them non-stop all day so the 1.5s are fine for me (and a bit lighter too). You have until the 18th to purchase the Makita or the 23rd for the DeWalt.

Originally Posted by vincentvega

I went and did the rounds this morning and came to the same conclusions. its down to Makita or Dewalt.

I am pretty sold on the dewalt gear however I am worried that the 1.5Ah batteries will drive me nuts. 3 3Ah batteries for $480ish makes the Makita a pretty good deal in this respect.

I don't know how exclusive to bunnings the DCK280C2 kit is. I have seen it at a number of online stores and they had a kit at my local glenfords tool shop. The good about this is they havn't made a cheaper versioon of the tools for bunnings like Makita does. The drill driver is a DCD780 and the impact driver is a DCF885 - standard dewalt tools.

Leyton: have you had a chance to test out battery life yet? Its the only thing stopping me from going and picking up a kit.

Hi, If you are interested in the Dewalt kit but with the 3AH batteries, do a look-up of the DCK285L2 kit. You also get the 3rd 3AH battery via redemption.

Maybe outside the budget, but Total Tools have the Panasonic 18V combo with 3 x 3.3ah batteries for $675.

Only reason, for me, not to go with Panasonic is if it is beyond the budget or if you want to add to the cordless tool range (angle grinder, saw etc) as Panasonic only do drills. If I didn't have the 14.4V set already I would rush out for the 18V.

They do have the 14.4V too, but it is not in the flier and I can't recall the cost.

Regards
Paul