5-piece Ryobi cordless???

[John Miliunas]

Anyone out there have or use the 5-piece cordless set from Ryobi? It has the 2-speed drill, recipricating saw, circular saw, worklight and hand vacuum, all at 18VDC. Two batteries and a "smart" charger, to boot. The "Cummins" people are coming to town on Tuesday and it's advertised there for $149.00 for the "factory serviced" set, complete with a 1-year warranty. I've got LOML's blessing to get it, (that way she gets my PC 9.6VDC driver/drill!), but would really like some hands-on review(s) first. I've owned a number of Ryobi tools in the past and have been fairly impressed and happy with them. Great value, I think. So, any feedback on this set?

[David LaRue]

John,

I purchased the 14v kit last year, and I have not been real impressed with the power, or the battery life of the tools. In addition the plastic gears don't always get from one speed to the next, and will grind until I move the selector back and forth. The saw is pretty neat but it will not replace your corded circ. Mine dies after half dozen 2x4's. For $100 it was cheaper than replacing the batteries on my Dewalt 18v.
So, the good:
* Ryobi is lighter
* Has a nice varible speed
* The magnet for screws on the front of the drill

The not so good:
* Battery life
* Power
* gear clashing

In hindsite, I would recommend purchasing the tools you need individually. If you only need the drill spend a few more dollars and get one of the new Bosch, Millwaukee, Dewalt (pick you premium brand)

Note: the New Rigid drills (made my the parent of Ryobi) have a lifetime warranty if purchased by the end of the year. The batteries are warranted. And the batteries are the 1st thing to go fo me. The tool rearly wears out before the batteries do. (my .o2)

[Steve Nelson]

John I have the 5 piece set your talking about and have been very happy with it, the drill has plenty of torque and the battery charge lasts quite a while under constant use. The good thing is it comes with 2 batterys and recharge very quickly. I would buy it again and for sure at that price, I gave much more for mine. Just my 2 cents worth. Steve

[Dave Avery]

John,

I have the predecessor 4 piece kit... like it pretty well. It's my bak-up drill - also have a 18V Dewalt. The Ryobi drill has great power and good battery life. The chuck is a little finicky and hard to get a real tight grip. The recip saw is useless, or nearly so. The circular saw is VERY handy for jobs where you don't want to run an extension cord - need to throw away to OEM blade and get a real one though. For $200 - not a bad buy, but not a great one either. Dave.