Which combi drill/driver?

[DNS1]

Looking to replace my Bosch (green) which I've been perfectly happy with, except the Ni-Cad batteries don't last long.

Orange shed are selling a Hitachi 18v with a pair of 1.5Ah lithium ion batts for less than a hundred quid. Anyone got one?

I've got a DeWalt mains SDS which is great and have heard the usual good opinions of Makita, Bosch blue, Milwalkee etc, but all of those brands seem a fair bit more expensive.

How do Ryobi compare? Are their lime green tools the consumer stuff, equivalent to Bosch green? I've got a mains circular saw by them and it's a solid bit of kit so started contemplating getting one of their combis as well as a right angle drill and share the batteries between them.

What does everyone else use for general drilling of joists, plaster and screwing down boards etc...

 

[Adam W]

Hitachi seem to be a respectable brand, although I wouldn't buy power tools from B&Q.
A guy I used to work for swore by the blue Ryobi gear, and to be fair it wasn't bad. I'd probably get an impact driver for screwdriving, so you don't have to keep changing from drill bit to driver bit.

 

[Martyc]

Got a hitachi sds plus cordless at work. Only lasts about 5 minutes on drill mode, pretty useless for anything apart from drilling one large masonry hole on hammer/drill or 20 small holes in wood on drill. Then hoping the other battery's charged in time for the next part of the job. Fairly powerful til it dies tho.

 

[applemac]

i have bought a hitachi 1.5 drill for a companies tool kit, used it and it is poor! battery lasted for about ten 7mm masonry shallow holes...

milwaukee 18v fuel is my ride, she's a beasty.... pay the money and get good kit, cheap drills are carp!

 

[DNS1]

Thanks guys, appreciate the opinions.

Think I'll keep saving the pennies and make do with my Bosch for the time being and then look at spending a bit extra...

 

[telectrix]

AEG 18V from b&q. think it's around £79 with 1 batt. £99 with 2. mine has only the 1.5AH batt but lasts quite well. have just got a AEG impact driver with 2 3AH batts which fit the drill as well. good piece of kit, better than ryobi and dewalt. IMO.

edit: and they're Li-Ion.

 

[Dcf]

Panasonic 21v .best batteries in a drill I've had plenty of grunt as well.bought a metabo Sds recently and I'm quite impressed with that

 

[Amp David]

The Metabo 18 v combi is a top drill for the money

 

[Heisenberg]

ScrewedFix currently have the top of the range Makita BHP 451RF on at £199.99, but it only comes with one battery. However, get a couple of the compatibles off of Amazon @ roughly £50 each and you'll be sorted.

 

[Guest111]

The last place i worked at bought me some dewalt the 18v one for about 100 quid its pretty decent actually for the price,if you buy one from b and q try it for a week if you dont get on with it take it back.

 

[HandySparks]

ScrewedFix currently have the top of the range Makita BHP 451RF on at £199.99, but it only comes with one battery. However, get a couple of the compatibles off of Amazon @ roughly £50 each and you'll be sorted.

They also have the Makita BHP452 at £169.99 with one battery. Not quite as powerful as the 451, but does me very well, and a bit lighter.

 

[One_of_them]

another vote for makita and screwfix have a good deal as above. 20min charge also so you can get away with having a cuppa while it charges.

 

[Sparkie30]

Makita BHP451RF for me.

 

[amlu]

my mate recenty bought hitachi one in scrfix. feels a bit plasticky and lightweight.
i cant complain about my 18v ryobi.... yeah i know its not dewalt, but so far it survived 2 years on various sites, drills 5.5 into brick with no problems. lithium batteries are half of the dewalt/makita price too.

 

[ExArmy]

ScrewedFix currently have the top of the range Makita BHP 451RF on at £199.99, but it only comes with one battery. However, get a couple of the compatibles off of Amazon @ roughly £50 each and you'll be sorted.

DONT buy a battery from amazon for £50, the genuine ones are £75 anywhere, anything cheaper and it's a fake and will last 2 charges and then not charge again. my mate bought one, said it was 2/3rds of the price but one third of the quality.
the 451 has a metal chuck and 3 speeds, the low speed is handy for drilling 32mm holes in joists

 

[Rockingit]

AEG 18V from b&q. think it's around £79 with 1 batt. £99 with 2. mine has only the 1.5AH batt but lasts quite well. have just got a AEG impact driver with 2 3AH batts which fit the drill as well. good piece of kit, better than ryobi and dewalt. IMO.

edit: and they're Li-Ion.

Agreed. I've got an AEG 18v drill/driver and the same series Impact Driver, Li-Ion, can't fault them. I think they're made by Milwalkee anyway. Go ages between charges and mine take a real hammering, too.

 

[Heisenberg]

DONT buy a battery from amazon for £50, the genuine ones are £75 anywhere, anything cheaper and it's a fake and will last 2 charges and then not charge again. my mate bought one, said it was 2/3rds of the price but one third of the quality.
the 451 has a metal chuck and 3 speeds, the low speed is handy for drilling 32mm holes in joists

If you check on Amazon you will see that there are batteries available for £49.99 that have 5 star reviews.

toolsdown Replica Makita 18v 3.0Ah LI-ION battery BL1830: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

They are not FAKE, as they are not marketed as original Makita batteries, but as compatibles. I myself have 2 and they are excellent, indistinguishable in use from the couple of genuine Makita ones that I own.

I'm not suggesting that there aren't some dodgy ones out there, probably on FleaBay, but at least on Amazon you can see some reviews of what others think of them. You are also pretty much guaranteed to be able to get a refund if you want, as Amazon bend over backward to keep people happy. Well, that has been my experience anyway ;-)

Cheers

 

[PJK]

Makita 18volt Lithium ion with 3Ah batteries. I eventually gathered up the full kit, combi drill, impact, circular saw. jig saw, grinder, torch, sds, reciprical saw. I have used the lot hard for three years now and touch wood everyting is is good. They are powerful bits of kit and I recommend.

 

[Dan23584]

Makita everything for me, have had dewalt, royobi and a few others over the years and have found Makit to be bettering nearly every way.

 

[richy3333]

I've been using Ryobi and have now killed a couple of the drills. As far as I know they just changed the blue casing for lime green - so you can see the tool in the dark? I think the Ryobi stuff is a bit plasticey.

I've had a few Lithium 2AH batteries die on me and a fight or two with Screwedfix to take them back - 1 battery was less than 2 months old!

As for me, I'm going over to DeWalt stuff, so the Ryobi can go in the shed, else get sold off.