Props to Makita

["Jacob Robinson"]

A couple of guys at my shop went to a tool demo and purchased a 10.8V Compact Lithium-Ion, and let me tell you the impact has a lot of power for such a small package, not to mention they are extremely light. they really are perfect for any normal use, and they'll drive a 3" screw without much problem at all. in fact my boss liked them so well we went bach and bought 3 more sets for the shop

The impact and drill kit works great for pilot then screw fastening since you can keep diferent bits in each

I think they were like 170$ for a drill, Impact, charger, and 2 batteries

[J. Z. Guest]

I feel sorry for Bosch. Everyone is copying their brilliant design and profiting from it. I'd be mad if I were them.

I bought the Milwaukee copycat, having fallen for the case & extra 1.2V in their advertising. The cells in the battery pack come in increments of 3.6 V, so how is 12 V even possible for a lithium pack? Answer Bosch rated theirs in working voltage, instead of open circuit voltage. TTI (who makes the Milwaukee & Ridgid copies) takes the more slimey approach and rates theirs in open circuit voltage. Bosch then went back and changed and added "12V max" to their packaging. It is a shame to have to do that.

[J. Z. Guest]

To get back on topic, yes, they are super useful. So much more handy of a size. They don't really make adequate drills in that size yet, 500 RPM is way too slow for woodworking.

But my impact driver (the 18 V Ryobi) has been super-useful. One has to avoid cheap wood screws with it though, as it twists the soft metal heads right off.

I use mine for automotive work, and also for driving those fussy phillips fastners that like to strip out when any real torque is applied.

[Paul Greathouse]

Haven't tried the Makita's or any of the other new brands but I bought the Bosch last year exclusively for attaching drawer slides in tight spots. It worked great for that but I find that I am using it for almost everything now. The only time I grab my Dewalt 14.4 is for drilling or for driving really long screws.

At first I thought the little light on the Bosch was just one of those cheesy lures for guys that don't really know tools but after using it, I found it to be very useful in those dark cabinets installing drawer slides.