Yet another over-priced, under-achiever from big yellow (Rating: 1.00)
Review : This drill is, in short, a dud. I bought it somewhat hesitantly on the recommendation of a friend. I had been looking at this and the Milwaukee and Bosch equivalents but went ahead and took the plunge. What a mistake. It seems to have sufficient torque but the chuck started to wobble almost immediately after only a few weeks of light use. It makes a grinding noise in the low speed setting that I can't seem to find and one of the batteries ... died after only 2-3 months use. Since then the charger .... has also given up making it cheaper to buy a whole new kit (probably what dewalt has in mind anyway). I have since bought the Milwaukee 0624-20 (kit 0624-24)and have been abusing that workhorse for over a year now with phenomenal results while this piece of crap collects dust on the shelf. Not only are the batteries ..... and charger .... cheaper to replace by some $40 but they also last a _lot_ longer. I wish now I had gone with my gut instinct in the first place. Save yourself a lot of grief and money and go for the Milwaukee. You will not be sorry.
Great drill/driver (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I have had this drill for about six months and am very happy with it. I am a homeowner so I can't speak as to how this drill would function during all day use. For projects around my house it has plenty of power although, like every other cordless tool I have used, it needs a little more time drilling/driving through hard wood. If I want to drill through something thick and tough, I used a beefier corded drill. So far, I have not noticed any of the battery life problems discussed by other reviewers.I picked up a set of the Dewalt hex shank bits and have not noticed any slippage. The only time I have had a complaint with the drill was while using a hole saw to install locksets in two doors. Of the four holes, the bit slipped out of the chuck two times. Once I reinserted the hole saw it went right on through the door. I don't know if I didn't get the chuck tight enough or if the chuck just prefers the hex shank bits. All in all a great drill. I can't imagine ever installing curtain rods, assembling bookcases, etc. with a corded drill and/or screwdriver again!
Good drill for the money (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I purchased this drill as part of a drill/saw combo at Home Depot for $199 so go there for a better deal. I bought this drill to compliment the 18V Dewalt pistol handle drill I already have. I know what your thinking, why do I need two drills? Have you every tried to drill/drive in between stud cavities with a pistol grip?? Pain in the bottom to do, so when I have that type of work to do I just grab this one, now onto my review. Plenty of power for anything you may want to do, drives screws like a champ, drills through 4x4 PT with 1 1/2" spade bit with no problems. A great drill at a great price. Since I own their more expensive model I will point out the differences. No hammer action, only 2 speed(don't need the third speed), 2 piece chuck versus the 1 piece, and the handle doesn't have those nice rubber inserts. Doesn't handle small bits that well due to the chuck design, and the trigger sticks a little when trying to slowly advance it.
One piece of advice, before you even use the drill for the first time grab some athletic tape(Walmart sells black athletic tape so it doesn't look retarded) and wrap it a couple of time around the handle. That improves the grip 100%, trust me. Even though I did bash some things this is still a awesome drill.
Four Years' Tough (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I have two of these drills. Have used one or the other of them daily for three years this month. About time for a review. They are tough. I do not understand the comments about weak chucks or, in other places, about battery problems. My drills, their batteries and chargers have performed, as I say, on a daily basis for three years under all kinds of conditions and some very hard use without so much as a glitch. They have tremendous torque and staying power under continuous use. If you are going to shoot large screws or drive a big bit rapidly into very hard or though wood, brace the drill-driver's grip, battery end against your knee or thigh before you squeeze the trigger. You will have fewer wrist problems if you do--it has that kind of torque. Regarding one complaint, I would not use this driver with tiny drill bits; it just is not intended for that. It defies logic to do so. What it will do is take the heaviest work and drive large bits and sink big screws all day and just keep on going. An example: In the intense, 100 degree plus heat of one summer, two carpenter friends and I laid a 1700 sq foot subfloor of 2X6 T&G over 16" OC joists with two 3-1/2 inch screws to the joist, working as fast as we could all day for what seems now like several days. The wood was very tough, dense struc select Doug fir. When my two friends' drivers, one a Makita and one a Hitachi, got hot as pistols or their batteries needed recharging, whichever of the DeWalts I happened to be using could keep right on going. I would lend the other DeWalt to either guy while his driver recovered. I smoked those batteries, but by following the right charging procedures never had a failure. They both still take deep cycle charges and hold them well, after three years of hard use. One took a fourteen foot fall off a roof while mounted to another DeWalt tool, the battery taking the full impact on tamped crushed rock, and it still works as well as the others. Just read the instructions and you will not have trouble with the batteries. Quick charge when you have to, but balance that with long charges from a low state over the weekends. Never use the batteries while they are still warm or hot out of the charger, do not run them out completely--just nearly so, and do not repeatedly shallow charge them. Nicads will not last long with that kind of treatment. They take a "set" and will not charge deeply afterward. As for weak chucks, well, one incident does not make them all that way. When my drywall zipgun stripped its chuck, I picked up one of my DeWalt 18V drill-drivers and kept on going--for over 300 sheets of 1/2 and 5/8 inch drywall. The clutch and speed mechanisms work well enough that I had good control and could hang drywall almost as fast as with the zipgun. One caution regarding the clutches on these brutes: they require breaking in; don't be upset if they are hard to use at first. You can see from this what DeWalt 18V drill-drivers have done and can do, and still I have not had the slightest problem, though they look pretty beat up now. I do not think a single work day has passed in which I have not used one of the two. Now I have a whole lot of DeWalt HD 18V tools, because these two drill-drivers performed so well I was not afraid to buy into a lot of tools in the same line. I have had no trouble with any of them. You never lose them, either; that DeWalt yellow shouts at you from across the room, across the lot or from under a pile of tools and offcuts. When these go, I will buy more.
quaility control (Rating: 1.00)
Review : i have owned three of these drills over the last seven years,i was very impressed the first time i used the 18 volt drill about five years ago and immeadiatly bought one. since that time i have noticed a serious decline in craftsmanship and customer service on DeWalt's part. the chucks spin on expensive drill bits damaging the bit,the battery packs seem to have unreliable longievity issues. the final straw was a blown charger after approx. 40 hrs. plug in time,right in the middle of a elaborate garage remodel. i am going to start phaseing out my DeWalt cordless tools in my personal tool chest as well as the ones owned by the Parks and Recreation Dept. I am in charge of.
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