Amazing Drill Driver Kit to buy?

[sunny nic]

hi, fellas. Was wondering anyone of u have experience with this 18-Volt Cordless Drill Driver Kit Porter Cable? (http://giftmadesimple.com/product/18-Volt%20Cordless%20Drill%20Driver%20Kit%20Porter%20 Cable/75122/?rid=28904198) In badly need of a nice drill driver kit. I'm confusing what to buy. My friend suggest me to go with this one. I'm not sure if it worth the money. What ya think about it? Is It nice stuff to go with? Any in put is appreciated.

[Van Huskey]

I have not used that one but FYI Amazon has it cheaper and there are 17 reviews there.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-PC180DK-2-18-Volt-Drill-Driver/dp/B001EYU8RG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1298284075&sr=8-1

But is seems silly not to pay $40 for for this if you decide on PC:

http://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-PC418C-2-18-Volt-Cordless-4-Piece/dp/B001EYU8SU/ref=sr_1_67?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1298284393&sr=1-67


If you are just going to buy it for occasional around the house use I would look at the Ryobi 18v stuff at Home Depot, if you want something to take abuse and lots of use I would look at Dewalt, Panasonic, Bosch or Milwaukee.

If you elaborate on exactly how you plan to use it people can give better answers.

[ian maybury]

I'm not familiar with that unit and I'll probably be shot for saying this - but my sense is that in the case of tools like drill drivers that occupy highly competitive market slots the fact is that there's probably four or five brands offering pretty much the same package at a given price point.

They do evolve, with the result that first to the market may offer something (e.g. removable chuck for working in tight spaces, impact driver, Li ion battery) the others don't have for a short while - but at a price premium. So it consequently pays to check out the spec/features you are getting for the money just in case. There's also usually one or more like Festo that positions at a premium price point and offer some extra feature(s), and a few more that come in a bit cheaper, but probably give a little (??) away in terms of e.g. robustness or battery life. But by and large it doesn't seem to matter that much which you buy.

There's sometimes the option to save some money and get a very decent unit for quite a lot less by going for an older model - for example I bought a discounted 18V Bosch last year with a NiMH battery rather than the newer and fancier Liion - saving about 50% over the latest fancy pants battery. It is a little bulkier and heavier, but realistically it's not a problem.

Fine Woodworking mag tends to run group tests on this sort of stuff - they are usually worth a look as a means of figuring out what's out there, and what the current specs are. You can access these on line by paying a small fee.

ian

[Steve Ryan]

I used to buy Dewalt drill/drivers. Got a smokin good deal on some Bosch and traded in a bunch of dead Dewalts. I now am firmly in the Makita camp with their Li batteries. Nicad batteries self discharge and it sucks to grab a tool and the battery is dead because you have not used it for a few weeks. Not so with Li batteries and they pack a lot of power/run time in a much lighter package. I framed a pretty good sized addition on my house with a Makita circular saw, and that was during the winter. Got dark at 4:00 but the led lights on the saw made it possible to work well into the dark.

[James White]

Lowes also carries that set. If you are a good negotiator. It may be possible to get a price match. But then again Amazon has exelent customer service. So other than the instant gratification of picking it up at Lowes. Amazon is a good way to go.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_36099-79992-PC418C-2_4294857558+4294962151_4294937087_?productId=1244 431&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity _sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_PORTERCABLE_4294857558%2B42949621 51_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0| |p_product_quantity_sold|1&facetInfo=PORTER-CABLE


I have not used that one but FYI Amazon has it cheaper and there are 17 reviews there.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-PC180DK-2-18-Volt-Drill-Driver/dp/B001EYU8RG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1298284075&sr=8-1

But is seems silly not to pay $40 for for this if you decide on PC:

http://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-PC418C-2-18-Volt-Cordless-4-Piece/dp/B001EYU8SU/ref=sr_1_67?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1298284393&sr=1-67


If you are just going to buy it for occasional around the house use I would look at the Ryobi 18v stuff at Home Depot, if you want something to take abuse and lots of use I would look at Dewalt, Panasonic, Bosch or Milwaukee.

If you elaborate on exactly how you plan to use it people can give better answers.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If you are open to other brands, shop around. A few weeks ago I bought an 18v Makita Li drill and impact driver...2 tools, 2 Li batteries and chargers for not much more than the price of the drill alone.

[James White]

Ken,

What model and where did you get it. I am in the market for a new cordless.

James

[Paul Stoops]

I recently purchased the Porter Cable 12V lithion ion drill/impact driver combo kit (PCL212IDC-2 ) on sale at Lowes for $139. I haven't used it extensively yet, but I am very impressed with both of the tools. The smaller tools are light weight, but feel substantial, and fit into smaller spaces. The impact driver is really a gem for driving long screws. The impact feature really drives them home in jig time. The keyless chuck on the drill seems to do a good job of gripping drill shanks up to 3/8". I really like the 30 minute charger as well. I would highly recommend this combo kit.

[jack howery]

I have the hitachi impact which i love has the li batteries fast charge,powerful and hitachi now gives you lifetime warranty on the tool.Not batteries or charger.

[Dave Lehnert]

I am a big fan of the Ryobi drill drivers. I have a set at home that is over 5 years old. We also had one at work that got abused and was still going strong after 5 or 6 years.
Here is a set that looks to be a good deal. http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Power-Tools-Combo-Kits/Ryobi/h_d1/N-5yc1vZar5vZ1aw/R-100593234/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Just a note. I have not used any of the new Porter Cable stuff. But what is being made today is not the same PC that we all know from years past.

[Barry Lyndon]

I'm a pretty big fan of the C3 line from Craftsman. They are 19.3 volts so there is plenty of power, they are priced fairly well compared to others, plus they have a good variety of batteries. They have small and large capacity nicad batteries and a small and large capacity lithium ion batteries so there if you just want to spend a little bit of money on a battery you can get a small capacity nicad, if you want to spend $90 on a battery you can get a large capacity lithium ion (most of the tools come with the larger nicad). The other obvious advantage is being able to use the same battery for a lot of different tools (though lots of manufacturers have similar systems now). There are circular saws, recip saws, planers, vacuums, etc... that all use the same battery. I have pretty much the whole line (bought a 17 piece kit a while ago) and everything is really good quality. The impact driver is great!

[Tim Pape]

Just my two cents, but I bought a porter cable impact driver/drill combo and was very disappointed. I bought based on price but ended up going back a month or two later to replace it. I was driving 3.5" screws into studs for framing and it just wasn't powerful enought and kept draining the battery.

I actually decided to compare brands so I bought a milwaukee and then a bosch and they are far superior to the porter cable. The Bosch is really tight and ergonomic and the milwaukee is a powerhouse. From now on, I'll stick to Bosch, Makita, and Milwaukee.

[Nick Sorenson]

The Bosch is awesome. I have one and I love it. It's tiny, light (almost seems like a toy but it's power tells right away that it's NOT). Great impact driver. I tried the Bosch and the Hitachi and the Bosch won by a long shot in my opinion.

For a cheap impact driver, I was surprised at Harbor Freight's $20 on sale Impact. You have to buy the batteries but they're only $10 each. So far I've had it for a couple months and it seems like battery life is good. I have it rigged to charge in another tool's 1 hour charger (took a little re-wiring of an old charger). It's big and bulky but it works as good as anything I've tried.

But if money's not the main object and you use it a lot, the Bosch is a great little tool.

[Caleb Larru]

Home depot just lowered their price to $220 for that kit. That is a heck of a deal

[James White]

Home depot just lowered their price to $220 for that kit. That is a heck of a deal

What kit is that?

[James White]

All the tools at the below link are half off. Enter PRES50 at checkout. There is a Rigid compact cordless drill included.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10051&categoryID=557039&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&cm_sp=thd_marketing-_-affiliate-_-ostock_thp1-_-wk03

James

[Ken Fitzgerald]

James,

I bought my 18V LI Makita at HD. They had the 2 tool kit which includes the drill and the impact driver for $229 and by showing proof I am a US armed forces veteran I got another 10% off. So it was $206 for 2 tools, 2 batteries and charger.

[Doug Colombo]

+1 on the Bosch - I love mine ! !

[mike wacker]

Recently bought Milwaukee's 12 volt impact. Vary Impressed. Small light, drives an 8 inch Timber lock thru full depth. Can't out pace battery charge by driving too many screws to have second battery availble to continue project.

[Mike Zilis]

About 5 years ago I bought a Ryobi 18v NiCad kit at Home Depot. Wish I hadn't. Chinsy build quality and terrible battery performance. Last year I replaced them with a pair of Makita 18v Compact Lith-Ion drivers. These things are amazing. Great power, battery life, fast recharge and rugged as heck. Makes the Ryobi's feel like toys.

[Greg R Bradley]

Lowes started carrying the Stanley Black & Decker's Porter Cable line to compete with Home Depot's Ryobi stuff at the low end.

If you are going to use the equipment regularly, I would think it is worth it to upgrade to Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, or Bosch. Dewalt is Stanley Black & Decker's high end line now and any newly designed PC stuff is being down graded. Stanley Black & Decker is particularly good in giving a good "feel" to the tool in that they make the stuff you touch seem solid and substantial. Just don't use them much or take them apart! This is exactly what they did when they created Dewalt by taking their Black & Decker low end tools and making them yellow and improving the feel of the tools. It did work and Dewalt was eventually upgraded in internal parts after they figured out what failed. Most tools are lost or stolen and many are hardly used so they got away with it fairly well. I had several early Dewalt tools fail almost immediately and the warranty station had a tough time fixing them since the plastic parts inside just didn't hold up at all. My local tool dealer is the warranty repair facility for all the above manufacturers and they have shown me enough internal parts that you really get an idea about the quality of the different lines.

If you look, there seem to be lots of promos on better stuff at lower prices. For Example, Lowes had a sale on the Bosch 18v Li-Ion Drill kit a couple months ago for $99. HD has been running some promos on Makita's LXT kits lately. Both Bosch and Makita are a huge step up from the PC cordless stuff. Makita has an extremely wide range of 18v LiIon tools in their LXT range and a good reputation with professionals. Milwaukee has an extremely wide range in their 12v line and a good reputation with professionals. If you think you will buy more cordless tools in the future, it is important that you look at the other tools in the line to see if they have what you want. That way you are not keeping different batteries and chargers around.

It is hard to go wrong with Bosch, Makita, or Milwaukee. Dewalt comes close to those brands. Bosch has a 30 day no question satisfaction guarantee.

[Keith Christopher]

I bought the porter cable lithium ion combo, the biggest complaint I have is it seems to lose it's grip on round bits. quite easily as well. Very frustrating. I am going to but the bosch and hope it's better at it. Haven't had batter problems but I use them for light duty work like screws and such. The torque is nice and they are small. but I just can't take them losing grip on the bits.

[sunny nic]

I have not used that one but FYI Amazon has it cheaper and there are 17 reviews there.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-PC180DK-2-18-Volt-Drill-Driver/dp/B001EYU8RG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1298284075&sr=8-1

But is seems silly not to pay $40 for for this if you decide on PC:

http://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-PC418C-2-18-Volt-Cordless-4-Piece/dp/B001EYU8SU/ref=sr_1_67?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1298284393&sr=1-67


If you are just going to buy it for occasional around the house use I would look at the Ryobi 18v stuff at Home Depot, if you want something to take abuse and lots of use I would look at Dewalt, Panasonic, Bosch or Milwaukee.

If you elaborate on exactly how you plan to use it people can give better answers.

Great source. Thanks for your efforts.

[Myk Rian]

Home depot just lowered their price to $220 for that kit. That is a heck of a deal
What kit would that be?

[phil harold]

Makita
Makita
Makita
Makita
Makita
enough said

[Will Holt]

I'm partial to Milwaukee tools. I have the 12v drill/driver. I prefer the lighter weight versus the 18v models and the power is adequate for most applications. I also have the 18v drill/driver and saw combo for heavier work.