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Thread: Reviews to be trusted?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
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    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.

    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.
    Last edited by Ole Anderson; 11-22-2014 at 1:14 AM.
    NOW you tell me...

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Hayes, Virginia
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    14,760

  3. #18
    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.
    Bill R., somewhere in Maine

  4. #19
    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.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
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    2,037
    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. )

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Upland, CA
    Posts
    1,344
    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.

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