gotta buy a new cordless drill - B&D Firestorm puked in less than 1 year.
what do you use and or recomend?

Milwuakee.

I've had a Milwaukee 12v cordless for about 12 years and picked up one of their new 18v cordless drills about a year ago. I relied on my 12v for seven years as a carpenter in high school and college and it never missed a beat. I estimate that I have driven 200,000 or more screws with it! The new 18v model that I have drills .5" holes through .25" steel plate like butter and the batteries last much longer than any other cordless I have used. By the way In my current employment I use this drill on a daily basis along side others who use the yellow brand as well as Ryobi and a few other brands. None of those drills can keep up as far as outright power, duribility(I've dropped it from heights of five to 10 feet with no apparent effect), and battery life. It also has an all metal chuck that is head and shoulders above any other keyless chuck I have seen or used. And, this is a big in my opinion, the motor has replaceable brushes. As far as cons go Milwaukee tools cost a bit more up front and my 18v drill is a little heavy. However it is very well balanced and the reversible battery pack is useful as well.

An 18V Dewalt. Have used both Milwaukee and Dewalt, and the Milwaukee's sit in a drawer in the shop. You can get the Dewalt with an all metal chuck as well.



Chuck

I've used Makita, Dewalts, Ryobi and Craftsman. My favorite is a top of the line craftsman - if it breaks they will fix or replace it. I use it Daily at work and so far Zero problems......DJ

You THINK they will replace it, their warrenty only covers HANDTOOLS not measuring, power, consumables (bits etc).

Outlaw I have a Dewalt 14.4 v cordless which works well. the 18V are nice but they get rather heavy after a while. I think everyone should have a quality corded 3/8" drill in addition to a cordless so I am assuming you already have one.
On top of that, if your B&D was 14.4 V the battery fits the dewalt. If you get something else let me know, if your battery is 14.4 I'd be interested in it!

Mark

Tailgunner,
They have a one year warranty on the power tools, and not lifetime like the wreches, etc.

I've had 1 Craftsman Vacum that over a period of 4 years of heavy use had 3 motors, and 2 sets of wheels replaced under warrenty.........DJ

dj,
I was just taking that off the sears web site for warranty on hand drills. I just bought a set of them not long ago. Typical of me, I went to get a cheap drill (not cordless), saw one for $19.95 and then saw a cordless model for $30. Of course I thought, now that would be even handier, no chord, wow. Then looked at the super doooooper model. Then I saw the Binford 40000 Turbo. Damn, I was in love, had to have it. Then I looked at this box of the same model in the aisle, it had every known tool that was ever invented in a chordless version and some that I will not mention in case there are children present. It was only like $189.99 and had been $220. Now those are tools. Of course I bought it. I did not get the optional axles and traler hitch attachment. They just had 8 guys load it in my Explorer and I drove it home (drastically reduced fuel mileage on the way).

I've used both Makita and Dewalt for work and home. The Dewalt seems much better for serious use, but the makitas I have are just fine for house hold chores. What I find to be a crime is the price of replacement batteries.

I've used Makita, DeWalt, Porter Cable and Milwalkee, plus my wife's little Sears jobbie.
If you just want one to run around the house tightening things, I'd get another cheapie. You can buy four for the price of a good one, and you'll probably only need three.
For more serious use, I liked all of the above but the Makita. Their batteries sucked, but I think they've remedied that now. Maybe the Porter Cable was my favorite, but it has a smaller battery than the 18v DeWalt. Means you recharge it more often, but I like not lugging that brick around everywhere. Oh, and the chuck on the DeWalt is definitely better.
Just go fondle some of the name brands, and see which one speaks to you. You won't go drastically wrong. Just spend some money on it this time, eh?

Since I own a Custom cabinetry company and we rely on cordless tools every day I can definitely give two thumbs up for Panasonic cordless drills using the 15.6 battery pack same torque as most 18volt drills battery charge lasts longer and comes with a 15 minute recharger.

We have been using them for about 15 years.

I still prefer the corded drill and a long extension card in some cases..I do have a Makita, but don't like it..I just work in the shop so it doesn't make a lot of difference...but I should get me a good cordless I suspect. I will let this thread play out and maybe accept it and buy a whatever the poll shows..

As an electrical contractor, I use lots of battery drills for my work. My shop owns about 8 of the Makita kits and they have served me very well over the years, but now that I have so darned many of them in my inventory, I'm kind of reluctant to change over to any other brand.
However, I cheated and bought a couple of the Dewalt drills, and for my truck, I bought the whole Dewalt 18V kit with the drill, circular saw, and reciprocating saw, and flashlight. That darned kit gets all my use now, and the Makitas stay home, especially after having to replace a couple batteries. I use them primarily in my shop now for little odd jobs and only take them on the job for back up duty.
I've used a couple Panasonics also on a few jobs, and if I had it to do over again, that is what I would invest in. Smoother running, better chucks, dependable, and lots of power for the size of the unit. However, I doubt they would run a 7/8" ship auger bit through 2- 2x4's like my 18V Dewalt will in a pinch. - Sheister

I will second what Reed said, the Panasonics are great and have the best battery life seems like.

I know people who use and like all the major brands.

What do you want to use it for? 18v have lots of power, but they weigh a ton. If you will drive lots of screws, from a ladder, at odd angles, left and right handed, reaching around blind, the 18 volt will wear you out. But for building a deck, the power is nice.

I'm in hvac. When I installed, I used a 14v Porter Cable. I got it rebuilt, free from a supply house as a promotion. It lasted three years and a zillion sheet metal screws. And, I loved the flashlight that came with it. Very bright and long battery life.

Now I do service only, and I use a 12v Makita I got 4 years ago used on Ebay. It doesn't turn the rpms of the two speeds, but for removing panel screws and misc. drilling its fine. And its light weight and small. I can easily fit it into my tool bag and climb a ladder.

Please stay away from Sears.

I bought the 18v DeWalt kit (hammer drill, 61/2" saw, reciprocating saw and light) and have just about shelved all of my other power tools. The power is nice but the drill is a little heavy. I had a bad experience with craftsman power tools that took an unbelievable amount of time, energy, and carefully chosen wiseass words to get refunded.

Sears drills are ok, batteries tend to die fast and refuse to charge when hot. And replacement batteries are over $50.
Milw, Makita, Dewalt, Rigid and PC are the more 'commercial' use drills. I was eying up the Rigid drill/saw/sawzall/light kit HomeDepot has.. has a dual 30minute charger. I think thats the one with a deal for a free 3rd battery in that flier. The kit is also... well over $400

All this brand loyalty in drills is amazing, you'd think we were talking about scopes or 30 cal mags........DJ

went drill shopping today and ended up with a 24V Craftsman Comerical mod. it has a all steel chuck, 2yr no fault replacement warranty that covers batteries and charger as well. 600ins lb of torque, 2 batteries & charger. $179
it's heavy, but it'll drill 1/2" hole in 1/2" plate without a strain.

I personally think dewalt is junk, just a rebadged black and decker. Me and my buddies have put dewalt to the test, his drill has had the transmission replaced twice, amonge other things, my sawsall has went belly up, and all my batteries are shot, and that is not from over use, they never lasted near as long as my milwaukee. My vote would be milwaukee I have put their tools through hell and never seen a failure, oh yeah one last thing, I absolutly hate the way dewalt batteries fit on, they get stuck or fall off unexpectatly.

OutlawMk26,
Take a long look at the 15.6V Panasonic. It has a longer amp/hour rating and nearly all the tork of the others listed. Most of the outhers mentioned are also quite good.