I’m in the market for a cordless drill/driver and have heard good things about the Makita lithium/ion 18v. I have always been a Porter-Cable guy and some of my buddies have liked the DeWalts. It seems like P-C and DeWalt have both gone south lately. The Makita is a little pricey, but I’m willing to spend for quality.
Any opinions?
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Replies
I just bought the Makita combo from Amazon a few weeks ago for $250:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V2BRM2
It has an impact driver, a drill, a flashlight, two batteries and a charger. So far, it works great. If you are a pro, you may want the higher amp/hour batteries, but for us hackers, the batteries are fine, esp. with the 15 minute charge.
The best deal is on the bigger combos. I bought a six piece Makita Li-ion 18V combo about a year ago. 6 1/2" saw, sawzall, impact driver, drill with hammer setting, 4 1/2" grinder, and flashlight, two batteries and charger. I really was originally looking for the impact driver but when you started to add it up the six piece set was a better deal. I'm very happy with it and it's amazing how much Ive used the other cordless items.
I'm pretty impressed with that Makita set as well. The circular saw surprised me to no end when I ripped through some 6/4 oak recently. I thought for certain the saw wouldn't have the chops to do it.--
James Kidd
http://www.carpenterconfidential.com
cant go wrong w. makita...
I purchased a Makita combo set less than three years ago, right after the LI Ion product came out.
The Drill/driver is now getting gearbox, and or clutch work done for the second time.
The other tools in the pack are indespensible, epecially the impact driver and circular saw.
My gearbox is getting a little noisey. hmmmm. Was this under warranty period? If not did they honor it?Steve
I am not sure if I got in under the 3 year window, or even if they were offering the 3 year warranty when I purchased the set.
I hope so, because a repair at more than 50 dollars is approaching the "I should just buy a new drill kit with the two batteries.", scenario.
I've had the Makita 18v Li-ion stuff since it came out. I work these tools pretty hard... for a trim guy, and they are great tools.
I like this new generation of Makita much better than the Bosch and PC cordless I used previously.
Good and timely thread...I'm in the market for a new drill and was leaning towards DeWalt.Older gen Makita drills let me down big time and I just got over it.
I got to the point where I was buying the drill set just to get 2 new batteries.Anyway I need to upgrade and thanks to all for your opinions...silver
Don't buy P-C, they have become the same in quality as B&D firestorm. Makita all the way. Can't go wrong.
Another vote for keeters, bought the impact,hammer combo. Cordless saws don't make sense to me (festool track, and a skil 77 magbase wormdrive) I like buying tools that are going to last me a very very long time and they are the best. FH tends to gravitate towards Panasonic however my experience has been terrible (14.4v li-on drill batts burnt out in a year and a half). I also owned a 14.4v dewalt impact ni-cad and that burnt out within a year. I have the 3.0amp batts, but have worked with the smalller ones and I was very impressed.
i bought the makita 18 v lion white one after my panasonics died after 5 years of abuse i love the makitas they are light and the led is awesome the run time isnt the best but with a 15 min charge i can almost allways find something to do if i have to wait for a battery
I've been looking at some of the same tools ....
I don't know Porter-Cable, so i can't speak for them.
Makita seems to have someone 'on the ball' in their marketing department. Their combo packs have two batteries (others often have but one), and are actual assortments of useful tools .... where other combo 'deals' contain duplicate tools, fancy fluff, or combine unlikely mixes of tools.
Makita's LED lights stay on for a few seconds after you touch the trigger .... quite handy, as you don't always want the tool operating as you position it.
While Makita uses a battery mounting arrangement (on the 18v) that looks similar to the Milwaukee arrangement, it seems to work far better.
Finally, additional tools are available alone (no battery or charger), so buying them is so much more affordable. Their assortment of tools is also one of the best.
Right now, it looks like my preference is Makita for the tools, and DeWalt for the 'fluff:" vacuums, lights, radios, etc.
As noted, go for the big combo if possible. That cuts the price per tool a bunch.
I own a Makita LiOn combi and I have been pleased. I would buy them again. In fact, I bought a naked jig saw to add to the collection.
I have the 6 tool combo. Tools from it get used 5 days/week for going on 3d year come January. No problems. The chargers are a bit tender.
Of the lot, the little saw really gets used. It's rather elegant and does work.
The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
I still have a 15 year old Mikita cordless.. use it a lot.. my Dewalt cordless has not held up as well. In fact I once bought a Dewalt cordless becuase with the drill 2 batteries and a charger it was cheaper than 2 batteries alone were..
In general I've been happier with the Mikita stuff I own than the De Walt stuff.
Noisy chargers on those Makita's. Sound petty I know, but it is an annoyance.
Oh man, get the Makita. I'm not rich or anything, but through poor planning, I ended up buying the drill-driver combo *and* the large combo - and I'm glad I did.
I'm constantly whipping out the circular saw at work. I never thought it would be that handy - almost every day I have a "Yes, I'll just cut this!" moment.
You're in Texas, so I guess cold isn't a problem. That's the only drawback to li-ion. . .
I would almost recommend that you do what I did, and buy two different kits so you can get the heavy-duty hammer drill and four batteries. ;-)
check out Home Depot. they had a Makita combo with a 1/2 inch hammer drill and an impact with 2 batteries and a charger for $199 marked down from 299. It was the blue ones and had the standard 3.0 ah batteries not the compact ones.
I bought that one 2 days ago and now am trying to sell my 2 month old lunch box set on Craig's list. Sweet, 3am/h batteries and belt clips."Shawdow boxing the appoclipse and wandering the land"
Wier/Barlow
Home depot also has the 18 volt dewalt hammer and impact with 2 nano batteries for 299.
Has anybody been using these batteries and what do you think of them?
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
So I see that Home Depot stocks a standard Makita and a COMPACT Makita set. What's the difference? It's not too easy to see on the Mak website.
the physical dimensions of the drill/driver are smaller on the compact. the length from the chuck to the rear and the height from battery to top are smaller. the compact also comes standard with a smaller battery. 1.5ah versus 3.0ah for the regular tools. The compact battery is about half the size of the bigger one.
So you get a slightly smaller, lighter tool for the trade off of shorter run time. compacts are usually white and the "regular" ones are the blue-ish color.
I'm not sure but I think the compact has a two speed gearbox
while the full size has a three speed.
My Makita white gets abused almost daily but keeps coming back for more. Its been like that for almost two years now. I want the impact gun next.