I'm looking at getting a nice set of power tools that are all battery operated. I've looked at a few ryobi, but it's tough to figure out which ones are there professional grade and which ones aren't.

What recommendations do you have t-dub?

12/27/2012 6:55:34 PM

Spend the money and buy dewalt

12/27/2012 7:12:41 PM

Check out the craftsman C3 line.

12/27/2012 7:18:47 PM

Is dewalt better than ryobi? We bought one of each at work, and the brushes failed reall quickly in the dewalt while the ryobi is still going strong.

12/27/2012 8:05:10 PM

My Craftsmen C3 19.2 volt is a lifesaver. I don't use it on a daily basis, but its been perfect for everything I've done around the house from building fences to putting up shelves.

12/27/2012 8:20:19 PM

These are my thoughts

If you might drop it off the roof of a house get the dewalt or Milwaukee if you are only going to drop it from 6' or less get craftsman.

12/27/2012 8:45:50 PM

I have a Porter Cable 18v Ni-Cad kit, and I love it. I use Porter Cable equipment every day for my business, and it works really really well.

12/27/2012 10:14:48 PM

I have a 18v(?) Ryobi wireless drill/circ saw/light. It's about 3 years old, and now both batteries will hardly hold a charge. They werent used hard at all, but often enough to not let the batteries die from non-use.

I'll be staying away from Ryobi in the future....definitely impressed with my Porter Cable tools....and Hitachi makes a nice Lithium Ion drill.

12/27/2012 10:30:37 PM

Porter Cable > *

12/27/2012 10:57:45 PM

Bosch Li-Ion tools are solid...but the take home point is get Li-Ion powered tools.

12/27/2012 11:08:40 PM

I have about a 6 year old 18V craftsman i got as a gift. No complaints for general use.

Im a "buy it nice or buy it twice" kind of person. if i had to buy one today, id buy a dewalt. unless youre using it professionally or every day, its probably overkill. you probably could find a refurb at a decent price, too.

With that said, ive been happy with my craftsman for the light duty i use it for. my only complaint is when building a fence, it was evident my brothers DeWalt had MUCH more power when driving the screws.



Oh, and I would buy an impact driver instead of a typical drill/driver. Its not a replacement for a traditional drill, but its far superior for heavy duty driving of screws for a deck, fence, framing, etc.

[Edited on December 27, 2012 at 11:21 PM. Reason : aaa]

12/27/2012 11:11:01 PM

I have a Porter Cable heavy duty cordless power drill, and it's excellent. Best value for your money.

[Edited on December 28, 2012 at 1:18 AM. Reason : dsf]

12/28/2012 1:14:59 AM

We use Dewalt at work and that thing is a powerhouse. At home I have a Craftsman like jbrick and it does fine for everything I use it for. I also have a smaller Li-Ion Bosch that I freaking love. I use it for everything small because it is so light and easy to carry around plus it packs some power and the battery lasts for a long time. I got my dad one and he loves it too.

I will say that Porter and Cable are very good drills as well as our maintenance contractor has them here and I've borrowed his and they are workhorses too.



[Edited on December 28, 2012 at 11:35 AM. Reason : sd]

12/28/2012 11:27:23 AM

i like the craftman C3 because they don't change much... my kit is 3 years old, i use it twice a week. the original nicad batteries still do well and i have lithiums now that i just got (how many non commercial companies can you get new batteries 3 years later easily) too that run forever.


dewalt is awesome, but the price is high and they don't come with stupid little things i love about mine, like my drill has 2 different levels on it to help me drill perpendicular to a wall or to the floor... i know... kinda dumb... but usefull and dewalt shit (didn't) have it when i got my craftsman set. and all the tools have some dumb little feature i find useful as hell that my bro in laws dewalt kit (cost well over twice what mine did) irritates me that it doesn't have it...

But i feel that if i dropped y C3 off the 2nd story of a house into grass would break... and my bro in law accidentally kicked his drill off the roof of his house and it survived.
he's also left it out in the rain for weeks and done random careless shit with it because that's kinda what he does.

12/28/2012 11:35:49 AM

^agree with his sentiments.

Whatever you do, get the Lithium Ion battery type, as they will be best (regardless of brand).

Craftsman C3 for 'general use' and a WIDE selection of tools. WIDE selection. Porter Cable has a nice selection as well, but do note that their current line of tools sold at Lowes isn't like the old ones (probably can be said for any brand, really).

Bosch, Milwaukee, Makita, Dewalt are all pretty nice too - I would probably not deviate from any of the brands I have mentioned.


also, FWIW,the newest C3 battery kit has a whopping 4.0 Ah rating!

[Edited on December 28, 2012 at 4:22 PM. Reason : -]

12/28/2012 4:17:35 PM

I have Porter Cable and I am pretty impressed with them.

12/28/2012 6:59:37 PM

I have a set of rigid tools and have been very happy with them.

12/28/2012 9:52:31 PM

It depends on whats in the set and what you already have. make sure you buy an impact driver though.

12/29/2012 10:32:57 AM

Dewalt. And get extra batteries. My drill came with an extra battery, which is a HUGE plus.

12/29/2012 11:34:15 AM

Dewalt Dewalt Dewalt when it comes to cordless power tools.

Either get the 18v XPS or 20v MAX.

The XPS have 2 years of free service and 3 year limited (mail in), MAX is 3 years of free service. That means if the battery loses charge, you just get it replaced no questions asked.
Drop it off a skyscraper and break it? Replaced, no questions asked.

Plus the batteries last longer per charge and everything they make in the 18/20v lines is basically bulletproof.

The dewalt cordless stuff I've used, batteries last about 5 years before they lose enough charge to make them not useful anymore. So just swap the battery after 2 years and again at the end of the 3rd year, and you will have batteries that will last you 8+ years.

Even after that, there are youtube videos how to replace the battery cells with aftermarket ones to extend the life another 10+ years, or you can just buy a new battery pack.

I'm sure craftsman/ryobi/bosch are all great, but DeWalt has earned their pricepoints with me. Though I use harbor freight shit for home use

12/29/2012 12:32:38 PM

^ +1

12/29/2012 1:52:36 PM

Dewalt is the shit.

12/29/2012 5:49:24 PM

Quote :

"Check out the craftsman C3 line."

i have these (two drills, circular saw, jigsaw, tiger saw, and dustbuster) that have all been awesome...the li-ion C3 battery is noticeably better (more powerful, lasts longer) than the ni-cd one

and now the craftsman C3 line has 4ah "XCP" li-ion batteries that are better than their "regular" li-ion for the same price (or not much more, i think)

so far, i've used my tools to build a deck and remodel a kitchen...far from a hardcore professional, but they've held up well and done what i wanted

12/29/2012 6:24:23 PM

i still say Porter Cable > Milwaukee > everybody else

i only worked in commercial construction for about 15 years though, so its just my opinion

[Edited on December 29, 2012 at 7:47 PM. Reason : and i own multiple Dewalt tools, they're by no means bad, they're just BMWs, not Ferraris]

12/29/2012 7:47:11 PM

^big fan of Milwaukee for all my metal cutting tools, their portable bandsaw is a beast

12/30/2012 10:54:43 AM

^corded?

I've the corded dewalt portaband, that shit's cut more stuff for me than anything other saw/abrasive disc combined. (bumpers/roll-cages/truck frame/exhaust work)


good advice ITT

12/30/2012 11:29:30 AM

^yeah corded. They make a cordless one now, but I can't imagine how that would work well. Pretty sure I had the Milwaukee 6232 deep cut. Loved that thing, it was worth every penny.

12/30/2012 1:05:28 PM

went a head and bought a dewalt set

12/30/2012 2:49:49 PM