Advice on 18 Volt Li-Ion Drill

[Mikail Khan]

Does anyone own the Hitachi DS18DFL 18 Volt Li-Ion drill? Are you satisfied with its performance?

Will the Makita or the Milwaukee be a better buy?

Thanks

Mikail

[Stan Welborn]

Have no idea about the other brands, but my Makita is one of my favorite tools. Never knew they had improved so much over my old 14.4's. I have zero complaints with this tool. None.

[Darryl deHaan]

I have the Milwaukee, for what its worth, and love it. A bit heavy, but really powerful. I put a new dryer vent through my cinder block wall last weekend... sixty three 1/8" holes in one charge.

Darryl

[John Zee]

I have a Hilti 12 v. The balance is great and not as heavy as the 18's. Did just get a makita kit. It was a bargain price and I'm glad I did. Driver, impact, light, 2 batteries and a charger. The Hilti has a true variable speed trigger and a chuck that locks in place allowing you to change bits with one hand. I like that feature.

[Matt Mutus]

I recently got the Makita BDF452HW (http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BDF452HW-Compact-Lithium-Ion-Driver/dp/B000K6ILDW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1197646275&sr=8-1) - I have to say I love it.
18 volts, 3.5 pounds. It's lighter weight and more compact than any of my old 12V (which are admittedly antiquated at this point). The size and weight are perfect for light to medium duty work, which is 99% of what I do with a cordless drill.

That Hitachi looks like a similar product - both have 1.5 ah batteries. The only real difference I pick out at first glance is the Hitachi is slightly heavier, rated for less torque, and charge time for Makita = 15 minutes, Hitachi = 30 minutes.

Either way, if you've previously been accustomed to using heavier drills for routine tasks like driving fasteners - I think you will be more than happy with either the Hitachi or Makita.

edit: forgot to mention that for only $80 more you can also get the impact driver and flashlight (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V2BRM2/sr=8-1/qid=1197646275/ref=pd_cp_hi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1197646275&sr=8-1&pf_rd_p=277661601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000K6ILDW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0248B7370KWXZJ9XA729)

I regret that I didn't go for that now, because it will be quite a bit more expensive to by those separately.