Thread: The BEST Cordless Drill

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As far as drills go, there are two categories....home user and commercial user. For the home user, there are a zillion makes and models....some are designed for a very low life as short as 40 hours. For the commmercial units, you have to go 18 volt or higher. Both Milwaukee and DeWalt make very good units...Makita used to be the standard of the trade but has fallen in the last few years.

The most important thing to consider is the battery....according to the DeWalt factory guy, a battery is good for about 800 recharges.....every time you slap the battery on the charger, you have used one of its 800 lives. DeWalt makes a $179 battery (battery and charger for that amount) that lasts something like 2000 charges.

The new XP DeWalts are much more powerful....power is a function of the battery and these new models suck batteries. We have five or six of the new models....I bought several 3 packs of the XP batteries when DeWalt ran a special on them for $125 a pack so we would have three batteries per drill motor. Now, if you can find 2 for $125, you're lucky.

Also, the DeWalt battery has a date code on it and a really good warranty...with some unpublished grace period. If you have bad batteries, check them to see if you can get a free replacement.

There are several DeWalt and Milwaukee sites that sell refurb units with full warranties..a 1/2 DeWalt 18 Volt XP drill is about $89 while a charger is $15....batteries not included