Bosch Professional drill Kit.

I don't know how many bothered looking at the promotional offer for the Bosch professional 2 Piece Heavy duty ProCore 18v brushless kit for around $290. I've never been able to justify the cost of a Bosch Blue Drill and thought this must be a cheaper version of the ones already in store for almost $630. The other thing that made me ignore this initially is that I only wanted a drill, so what use would an Impact Driver be to me, however my memory of what an impact driver was beared no relation to what I actually found.

The drill and impact driver were the same latest models sitting on the shelf that would cost me around $630 to buy and they did not have an 8Ah ProCore battery, this kit was around 1/2 that price and it has the latest ProCore 8Ah battery and fast charger. Those two items, battery and charger, sitting on the shelf were virtually the same price as the complete Kit. So in reality the Drill and Impact Driver were virtually free. I asked the sales person how could that be? It appears that Bosch believe if they can get you into the Pro series then you will likely purchase other Bosch skins to go with the drill and driver, hence the promotion. Well after using these two devices that is almost a certainty.

I'm just blown away with the quality, materials, build, power, precision control and balance, and especially the Impact driver, it's effortless and the torque at virtually zero revs is just ridiculous. If this thing can get a good grip on a screw or bolt, then Resistance is futile. Because of the torque at low, low revs, combined with the variable impact settings, the chance of the driver bit slipping or rounding out dodgy screws heads or bolts is now greatly reduced.

This is the first battery drill I have owned that takes a 1/2" drill, perhaps they all do now? It is also the first that warns you to use the supplied side bracing handle on larger bits as the torque is enough to cause injury, I though that was just a sales gimmick, it isn't!

The only thing missing was a second battery, but a 4Ah is 1/2 the cost of the 8Ah and IMHO the 8Ah is really to big for the impact driver, the 4Ah makes it a light weight agile and powerful piece of kit, and just like the drill, the chuck on the Impact Driver is also a dream come true.

BTW at the moment I notice a kit with the exact same Drill / Impact Driver / Fast Charger and 2 x 6Ah batteries plus a work light is around $650.00. Apology for rambling on but for the price I payed with a 6 year warranty on everything including the batteries, it's one of the best purchase decisions I've made. I've been using them for the past month and, as a certain stupid motor vehicle advert says, "I'm still feeling it". I'm sure professional users have moved on to Dewalt, Makita or others brands and that all of this is just HO-HUM, but for a home user like me, this pro kit was just eye opening.

Like you said, once you are in a platform of battery and charger, you are more likely to buy that make for other tools.

I have had a bosch blue 10.8v drill and impact driver set, it works really well for my needs . Unfortunately they stopped selling the 10.8v range in OZ, as I like the looks of the router in that range.

You can still buy the Bosch 10.8V tools from the USA. One of the benefits of the battery is that the voltage is not really an issue. You can use a step-down transformer (like I do) if you don't have the 220V battery chargers.

I love these small units too. Much more comfortable to use particularly in enclosed spaces.

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Originally Posted by barramonday

I have had a bosch blue 10.8v drill and impact driver set, it works really well for my needs . Unfortunately they stopped selling the 10.8v range in OZ, as I like the looks of the router in that range.

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Me too, they do a kit that comes with multiple chucks that I have debated buying but that ship has sailed until the dollar comes up for air.

Just a note to Mandj, the six years warranty is only available if you register online. otherwise it's the standard one year warranty. still a good buy though, well done

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Posted by Handyjack Like you said, once you are in a platform of battery and charger, you are more likely to buy that make for other tools.

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In this case it's worth it as this battery range is step-up from the normal units. Claimed to last up to 150% longer and from the limited use that appears to be true, compared to the other 18v battery drills in the 4Ah range I've owned. The smaller 4Ah on the Impact Driver is still almost full after a months use. I've built two large enclosures, admittedly only around 180 screws, but I've also dismantled a number of timber frames and old enclosures, and it gets used most days, so I'm pretty impressed.

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Originally Posted by justonething

Just a note to Mandj, the six years warranty is only available if you register online. otherwise it's the standard one year warranty. still a good buy though, well done

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Thanks, that's an important point, but it's also common with some Ryobi and Ozito range that come with extended warranties, I guess a lot are like that these days.

I registered everything the day of purchase, and later on added the smaller 4Ah battery, and like the rest of the heavy duty pro range it also came with 6 years war.

Well done Mandj. Good buy. But as the salesman said.....once you make a purchase you will be inclined to stay in that family of tools. So it is worth it for them to make a small sacrifice.....remembering that the markup may well be around 300% when not discounted!:oo:

The wife bought me a Dewalt 18V battery drill set and now most of my power tools are in that family.

Yes I must admit that on reflection, it's been the cost of the Bosch battery that has made me walk away, especially when it's added to the Skin I wanted to go with it.

I have no doubt that if the other tools in the Blue range are as lovely to hold in the hand as these and as well made, then I will absolutely save a bit longer for them. I'm from an electronics background and battery quality has always annoyed me in some lower cost devices, however that gap is slowly closing (but so is the price for said battery), but the changes to this PRO battery technology looks like it may be more than just marketing hype, both in battery run time and longevity. One thing often overlooked when comparing batteries is the short term demand power capability of the battery, these units are impressive and this goes some way to explaining the exceptional torque available. I normally grab the big 240V drill for larger bits and jobs, this drill feels like a 240v drill in use, the power capability of the 8Ah battery in seriously impressive, I no long use that 240V Makita drill, well except for concrete as I hate getting my Bosch drivers dirty. :oo: :D

As I've said elsewhere after decades of bosh blue corded tools I won't be buying any more.

Impact drivers are wonderful. As you say I wasn't sure I'd use it much but since buying my US amazon hitachi kit for $190 delivered I've used the impact driver 10x more than the drill.

My kit came with 2.5 and 1.5 batteries. I had to lift the roof steel to insulate my house last spring. I could do half the roof and refit it with the 2.5 dying toward the end of the day and a switch to 1.5 to finish. Keep your battery fully charged, it will last longer.

Hitachi don't offer the "toy" skins that I might buy. I guess you need makita or ozito for that. Their 18v nailers etc are out of my price range as I'd never have the use for them.

Incidentally the chargers draw about 60W. It's worth noting as it's a hard specification to find. So if you are buying a transformer to use a 110V charger I would recommend at least a 100W transformer. Mine is a 200W "proper" transformer I bought years ago to run a USA valve tester.

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Originally Posted by damian

Impact drivers are wonderful. As you say I wasn't sure I'd use it much but since buying my US amazon hitachi kit for $190 delivered I've used the impact driver 10x more than the drill.

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Yes I find that as well, such an incredible useful tool, even on really small screws and nuts that I wouldn't even use the old electric (POS) screw drivers on, the fine low speed control is just great for that kind of thing.