Reviews to be trusted?

[John T Barker]

I'm going to let Santa know that I want a cordless drill for Christmas and I'm trying to go over the reviews to see what is best. As I read the reviews I wonder which ones can be trusted. From the days when I was a shooter I remember that one could never find a review of guns in the shooting magazines that wasn't influenced by advertising.
Anyone know of tool reviews they feel good about?

[Teo Cafengiu]

"best" is such a slippery term. you don't mention the types of uses your drill will see. while a lot of those reviews are indeed biased or superficial in various ways, it has always bothered me that festool was not mentioned more in tool reviews. i use their T15 and find that to be a great drill with a lot of useful features: multi volt charger, brushless longevity, good balance between power and weight, and of course the 4 chucks for various applications. i also had good luck with several of the early dewalts, but current dewalts are not on my list. there are also very good reviews from users on various forums regarding the brushless milwaukee fuel line of drills. but since santa is paying for the drill, i would go with a festool, fein or metabo.
on a side note, i find that many buy a decent drill but seem to skimp on the drill bits. a really good set of bits from a machine shop supplier goes a long way towards enjoyment and satisfaction of using the tool.

[Erik Loza]

The reviews on Amazon can be helpful, though take it all with a grain of salt.

Just my 2-cents, do with it what you will: On things that I will use a lot or use frequently (like a cordless drill or other hand tools), I just go down the Lowes or HD and buy it there. The amount of money I might save on an item at this level by buying online is outweighed (at least for me...) by the fact that I can stand there with all the various models in front of me and try out each one to see what the weight and ergonomics are actually like, plus the fact that if there is an issue, I can just walk back in and return it with no hassle. I was shopping for a new tool belt/suspenders recently and there were all these reviews for this or that brand, five stars. I went to Lowes and tried them. Well made but didn't fit me right. Ended up buying an entirely different brand that was not as well reviewed. It's all subjective.

By the way, I have an 18V Dewalt gun that has been a champ for years. There may be better but it has been fine for all my needs. Best of luck in your search.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Matt Day]

I usually go by actual user reviews and not magazines. But with reviews like Amazon, you have to sort through and account for the bogus reviews that say "it took a long time for shipping" so they rate it 1 star.

[Myk Rian]

If a review gets into too much detail about the features, pass it. You know it's an ad.
The ones that give something 1 star and say "I hate it", are also to be ignored.
It's not hard to pick out the honest reviews. Most of those are 4 stars.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I like to get actual users experiences & here at SMC is one place I usually ask.

[Peter Quinn]

I read the reviews as a starting point to highlight what I might not have considered the get a general flavor of what's current. But I don't take them as gospel because they often tell more about the reviewer than the tool. I rarely write reviews, I'm just too busy using my tools for that. When it comes to drills specifically it's important to hold one in your hand. A good drill is really an extension of your hand so it has to feel comfortable there. Bright side is almost all the major offerings presently are really very good, so hard to go wrong.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use a combination of magazine articles including Consumer Reports and user reviews.

The magazine articles often provide an easy to view comparison on technical details that I might overlook if I was standing in a store comparing the devices.

I read user reviews, reading all and throwing out the low volume extreme reviews. If I read one user gave a "1" and 499 users gave a product a "4" or "5", the single "1" review would be a lot less believable to me. Likewise, a single "5" score would be less credible compared to 499 "2"s given by other reviewers.

Like Erik, I also enjoy holding it in my hand, checking it for fit, comfort, weight, etc.

[Mike Heidrick]

I am a fan of 18v makitas and 20 and 12v dewalts and 12v max Bosch.

[cody michael]

I switched over to all ridgid 18v drills, I have had one set for a few years, bought another drill battery set a month or so ago. I am not sure how ridgid compares to other similair price brands but they have life service agreement. includes free batteries. I just replaced one of my 12v ridgid batteries a few weeks ago. at no cost at my local home depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-X4-18-Volt-Hyper-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Drill-and-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-3-Tool-with-Radio-R9601/203810442

thats what I got it was on sale for 179 for along time, and I got 10% off also.

[Dan Clark]

I use a combination of magazine articles including Consumer Reports and user reviews.

The magazine articles often provide an easy to view comparison on technical details that I might overlook if I was standing in a store comparing the devices.

I read user reviews, reading all and throwing out the low volume extreme reviews. If I read one user gave a "1" and 499 users gave a product a "4" or "5", the single "1" review would be a lot less believable to me. Likewise, a single "5" score would be less credible compared to 499 "2"s given by other reviewers.

Like Erik, I also enjoy holding it in my hand, checking it for fit, comfort, weight, etc.
Ken,

This is almost precisely what I do. When it comes tool reviews, there's more bull... uhh... bovine feces out there than I thought possible.

So I read everything I can find, cross check the facts, and weigh opinions based on source. Real user opinions (not fake ones) are invaluable.

One of the first checks is to view the Amazon review graph. Just a couple of reviews? I'm skeptical. It's difficult to eval a product with just a few reviews. Lots of 5 reviews? That's a huge plus. Lots of "1" reviews? Big red flag.

Assuming that the preponderance of Amazon views are high, my next step is to look at the "1" and "2" reviews (not the "5" reviews). Even if a bunch of people like the product, is there something lurking there that affects some people? Will it affect me? So I read these carefully. Sometimes, people are PO'd about shipping, damaged product, etc. I.e. NOT product related. It's still a red flag, but it may be critical to the decision.

Negative (valid) customer reviews that complain about product flaws can be very useful. Sometimes users just don't like certain features. For example, I just ordered a Laguna 14|Twelve bandsaw. One reviewer said the table height was too low. He mentioned that he was 6'2" tall. I'm 5'5". His was a valid complaint, but it didn't apply to me. From visits to Woodcraft and Rockler, I LOVE the table height.

There's lots of good and bad info out there. Diving into the details and cross-checking everything is critical to a good decision, IMO. And finally is just how it feels in your hand. Will it work for you?

Regarding drills, I have a couple 18v Makita impact drivers. Great tools. I have a Festool C12 and CXS. Both are great drills (IMO), but a lot of people don't like how the C12 fits in their hand. Finally, I have a several Milwaukee M12 drills and impact driver for my RV. Very compact and work well.

Regards,

Dan.

[Peter Kelly]

I'm going to let Santa know that I want a cordless drill for Christmas and I'm trying to go over the reviews to see what is best. As I read the reviews I wonder which ones can be trusted. From the days when I was a shooter I remember that one could never find a review of guns in the shooting magazines that wasn't influenced by advertising.
Anyone know of tool reviews they feel good about?Skip the Amazon reviews and drop by the Hilti store in Malvern. After that, head down Route 30 to Woodcraft in Downingtown to check out the Festool ones. Both make great cordless drills, checking them out in-person usually makes the decision. Either store will let you demo them.

[charlie kapper]

I owned a Bosch and Panasonic drill (both lithium ion) and decided a needed a Rigid (lithium ion). The Rigid batteries both gave up the ghost and the Bosch and Panasonic drills are still running on the original batteries even though they are about 9 months older. I have purchased my last Rigid battery operated tool. I even contacted Home Deport to tell them how disappointed I was with the life of their batteries and their response was "sorry you are disappointed' I will let my manager and Rigid know. They did not mention free battery replacement. Cody how did you go about getting free replacement batteries?

[Phil Barrett]

I read all the low reviews (1 -3 stars). A lot of them are just cranks but they will also tell you about issues to be concerned about. Frequently, there will be problems that you wouldn't think about. Plus, many reviewers tell you how to deal with the issue. Also, you get a sense of the failure rate. I also look at review distribution as someone else said. Worthwhile to know what the average is. I do pretty much ignore the glowing reviews because a) a lot of people will give 5* before they've even used it, b) many are just casual users and c) fake reviews.

[cody michael]

you need to register it for there lifetime service warranty, it only takes a few minutes but it needs done within i think within 30 days of purchase and then you get free batteries for life.


I owned a Bosch and Panasonic drill (both lithium ion) and decided a needed a Rigid (lithium ion). The Rigid batteries both gave up the ghost and the Bosch and Panasonic drills are still running on the original batteries even though they are about 9 months older. I have purchased my last Rigid battery operated tool. I even contacted Home Deport to tell them how disappointed I was with the life of their batteries and their response was "sorry you are disappointed' I will let my manager and Rigid know. They did not mention free battery replacement. Cody how did you go about getting free replacement batteries?

[Ole Anderson]

The OP is looking for comments regarding tool reviews, not drill recommendations. Maybe the budget is $100 which would get a good drill, but flat out recommending Festool or Hilti is assuming all WW's are loaded, and they are not. You know what they say about assumptions.:o

Personally I look at reviews on seller's websites, usually Amazon, Lowe's or HD for tools or B&H for electronics. And as others have noted, if you only see 5 reviews, check out another seller, or possibly it is saying not too many folks buy that tool or it is very new, so take what is said with a grain of salt. When I see 500 reviews, I know it is a popular item at probably a good price and if it is in my price range, I will scan the reviews for information.

Recently I was looking for a drill/impact driver combo for my son. I wasn't about to spend north of $300 for an 18 v Milwaukee Fuel combo(my first choice based on reading reviews), let alone double or triple that for a Festool or Hilti, so I went with a 20v PC Lithium that was about $140 after reading many reviews at several different sellers, reading threads here on drills and finding an excellent deal using a simple search engine. Plus he had used my 18v PC Lithium combo set and liked it. Is it going to be as HD as his old 18v Milwaukee brute? Not likely, but then it is all about the budget.

[Keith Outten]

SawMill Creek Tools and Product Reviews (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/announcement.php?f=3&a=22)

You can find this Announcement at the top of every Forum.

[Bill Ryall]

A piece of advice given to me was "Observe the tradesmen. What are they using?". You figure these guys are using their tools to make a living. No having to worry about advertising-skewed reviews or filtering through online reviews from inexperienced people.
However, I am lucky. As part of my "real" job, I work with all manner of trades regularly.

[Jack Jackson]

I don't even read magazine or similar reviews anymore. I have pretty good luck just using consumer reviews. Amazon reviews are helpful for indicating a design flaw - like if several reviewers mention the same thing breaks or malfunctions - but like other said, you have to sift thru them. Sometimes I just Google " name your tool reviews " then just scroll through and look for results from a forum - like here, Garage journal, Contractor talk, etc, etc... those are the most useful ones I think.

[Stephen Tashiro]

A consideration in buying "a" cordless tool is that it will take a certain brand of battery (e.g. DeWalt or Hitachi etc.) If you acquire several cordless tools, life is much easier if they all take the same type of battery. So picking a good brand becomes a consideration, as well as picking the best particular cordless drill. The type of battery also leads to comparing 18V tools to 20V and higher. (I don't know if 12 V tools are contenders for serious use nowadays. )

[Greg R Bradley]

Stephen,

Very good point about choosing a system so you won't end up with different batteries and chargers but there is no such thing as a 20 volt tool. Only 18v tools called "20v Max". 5 LI cells in series: 5x3.6v=18.0v.

20v is only advertising exaggeration. Interestingly, Hilti is taking the opposite approach of making the most powerful 18v drill and impact by using a sixth cell so it is actually a 21.6v tool. Their calling it 18v in some markets and 21.6v in others.