Cordless/Power Tools

[Outdoorsman]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

Ergonomics
Battery quality and amount

Probably the most important.

Black & Decker has bought up many of the name brands. Porter Cable, Craftsmen, and DeWalt - just a few.

If I were purchasing such now I would buy items that came with an extra battery - or purchase a 2nd battery now.

My first cordless drill was made in Germany. 1980's. That lasted over 20 years. That was before removable batteries. I did have the battery refurbished once. But by that time it was less expensive to purchase a complete new drill. And the batteries evolved into removable batteries. Many more brands entered the market.

In the early 2,000's - Home Depot had a Black Friday sale of Ryobi 12V cordless drills. $20.00 each. I purchased 4 - just for the extra batteries. I still have and use those cordless drills. I did have the batteries rebuilt one time for each.

I have since purchased Master Mechanic cordless drills - on deep discount/sale - when the hardware stores switched name or went out of business. Those work fine.

Ergonomics and batteries is the short answer.

Keep in mind, not all batteries are created equal. In the case of Milwaukee be aware, all batteries are not interchangeable nor do they last as long on a full charge....

They have many... I have
M12 and M18 which are interchangeable and they also have a "MX Fuel" which I believe is not recommended for the "M" series tools. Within the "M" series I have M18 - CP2.0 and M18 - XC5.0.

My suggestion is simply this.... Look for fully interchangeable batteries for the tools you need AND make sure they have the "run time" between charges that you need.

The "free battery" offer is great as long as you have a number of batteries to complete an all day project.