Replies

1. 
   ravenwind | Dec 06, 2003 06:12am | #1

   hi Ben ,i've also got the millwalkee 18 volt 5 pc set/ 1/2 hammer drill,6 1/2 circ saw, hatchet sawzall,light and radio and I love it all, I also picked up 1 more battery just to round it all out. I can work all day and I almost never get my worm drive saw out and I leave my DeWalt recipro saw home and only bring it along when I need it and havent needed it yet. And I dont even own a corded drill except a big old silver 1/2 in one I use to mix up drywall mud or thinset to tile. the drill (18 volt) is a workhorse . I looked at everything out there and it was the best I could find that had it all for the price $600.00 plus extra battery $80.00   A chunk of money but worth every penny. The only thing I would consider is the bosch 24 volt set but I liked the radio ( runs all day on a battery /digital tuner/input jack to plug my walkman cd player and a 12 volt car plug to charge my cell phone with auto addapter ) this is the complete set for me.

                                                             good luck /  dogboy

1. 
   WebTrooper | Dec 06, 2003 06:34am | #2

   I don't know the specs but Home Depot's Rigid just came out with a cordless kit. Other Rigid tools seem pretty decent, work well and heacy dutyish. It's worth looking into.~ WebTrooper ~

   "But dont take my word for it. I was wrong once and it could happen again!"

1. 
   ravenwind | Dec 06, 2003 07:08am | #4

   Hi   well Its funny because the day I was going to buy my cordless toolset I was on my way to buy the ridgid set and the Home Depot in my town had just run out so I called the HD down the highway 70 miles and they had 2 or 3 sets and it was the liftime warrenty if bought before dec.30th that had me sold , so me and my friend Steve headed down the road, I got to the store, picked up the box, put it in the cart and decided to have another look at the display  then asked if I could look at the millwalkee set out of the box and salesperson said sure as I was going to buy one of them anyway. so I placed the circ saws side by side and what impressed me about the millwalkee was the knobs to tighten the shoe /base, angle and depth and everything looked a little beefer and the salesmen was standing right there and alsosaid he thought the millwalkee was a better set. so I bought it  and said the lieftime warrenty wassn't worth it. and it was only 20 or 30 bucks less for the set with out the radio. I did like the 30min charger,    I do have the ridgid table saw and love it , the stand sold me on it . so im not aganst ridgid. just the guy at Home Depot.                               thanks dogboy

2. 
   ravenwind | Dec 06, 2003 07:15am | #5

                 I meant the guy at HD didnt care for the Ridgid stuff                  

                                          oh ya ,     woof

                                                       dogboy

2. 
   JDRHI | Dec 06, 2003 06:35am | #3

   Although the majority of cordless tools I own are Dewalt, I would recomend avoiding buying by the set. I prefer to buy the tools individually for two reasons. First, I try and buy the best tool for the job that I can afford. I`ve yet to find a single tool maker that excells at all tools. Secondly having to lug the entire set to each job would be prohibitive. The sets come with one box.....individually purchased tools come with boxes designed to carry the specific tools. 

   I realize this costs more, but I feel the positives far outweigh saving a few bucks on the proper tools, which I depend so heavily upon.

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

   "DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"

1. 
   WebTrooper | Dec 06, 2003 07:20am | #6

   And batteries. We've got to mention batteries!

   The kit's come with what, one? Two batteries? It's a pain in the keester swithing the batteries around, especially when using more than 2 of the tools. Not to mention that both batteries tend to tire out about the same time.

   Also, I usually throw the cases away and I have plenty of flashlights. ~ WebTrooper ~

   "But dont take my word for it. I was wrong once and it could happen again!"

1. 
   JDRHI | Dec 06, 2003 07:36am | #7

   I had planned on mentioning batteries....not having purchased a set, I wasn`t sure how many they came with. Every cordless tool I`ve purchased has come with two batteries....never a shortage.J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

   "DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"

3. 
   DocDM | Dec 06, 2003 10:59pm | #8

   Ben, when I finally decided to break down and buy a cordless set, I thought I would never use the cordless saw. I was wrong, I use it alot! Great on a ladder for cutting siding away to remove old windows (current job - 15 windows, some aluminum, rest HEAVY metal casements mounted on top of the shiplap).; Keep it handy in the work area for quick cuts without going back to horses. Cut/make shims. Cut out openings. etc.........LOVE IT!

   Doc

   P.S. opt for a hammer-drill in your kit - never thought I'd need a cordless HD either - I drill with my corded Milwaukee HD then drive with the cordless HD.

   A shortcut is the longest distance between two points.

4. 
   SBerruezo | Dec 07, 2003 08:59am | #9

   I don't know if you need or want a hammerdrill, but Milwaukee has a few kits with the drill/sawzall combo.  Not a kit you will find a Home Depot though.  The 0903-28 is the HD and Hatchet.  I don't know what the difference is, but there is the 6515-28 and the 0901-28 both have a HD and a sawzall...actually, the 0901-28 is Lok-tor HD...No clue what the difference is.  Have fun. 

   Also, I've heard great things about Panasonic.  No personal experience, however.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/7/2003 1:01:02 AM ET by SBerruezo

5. 
   Shoeman | Dec 09, 2003 04:31am | #10

   Well, since you asked.

   Panasonics are great!  Best power to weight ratio in the industry.  Do a search here on them and you should find nothing but good things about them.  They have 3.5 amp hour nickle metal hydrid batteries available.  The 15.6 volt tools will out perform most 18 volts and at much less weight.  I use the 12 volt drills all the time - love the feel of them.  Also just got the 12 volt impact driver about a month ago.  Have been using it for installing cabinets - WOW !  A bit noisy, but, the screws just drive right in without the bits caming out.  Can't say enough good about them. 

   Can say one bad thing about the Panasonics as well.  They have a limited line.  Not sure they make a recip saw yet - romour was that they were going to come out with one this fall, but .............I haven't seen it yet.  The drills and impact drivers are great, and I have heard the 15.6 volt circular saw is nice too - I have a very old 12 volt that leaves something to be desired.

   Good luck,

   Shoe

1. 
   ravenwind | Dec 09, 2003 08:05am | #11

    I need to say even though I got the millwalkee set I have read about the pannasonic being very good and have a friend that has 14.5 drill and he only said good stuff.                    dogboy

6. 
   GerryB | Dec 13, 2003 02:10am | #12

   Hi Ben!  This is probably not totally relevant to your question, but hey, any chance to talk about tools cannot be passed up!  My own limited experience with cordless tools has been mostly restricted to drills, but some coworkers have bought the Dewalt set and are pretty happy with it.  My drill is a 14.4 V store brand (up here in Canada all we guys love  the Canadian Tire chain, whose brand is named Mastercraft) - not sure which company actually makes the tool, but after 3 years of use I am very impressed with the value for the money.  It was well under 1/2 the price of any name-brand drill.  It doesn't have the torque or battery endurance of the better cordless tools, but with 2 batteries and a 1 hour charger, that is not a huge factor.  If I needed to drive 3" screws all day, it wouldn't do the job, but for many drilling/driving tasks it performs quite well.  I've been thinking for some time about getting an 18V Ryobi kit- up here you can buy the drill, recipro saw, circ saw, flashlite and hand vac with 2 batteries for $299 of our light-weight Canadian dollars (that would be, oh about $49 US, maybe!) Heck, for $499 they throw in a cordless mitre saw and chainsaw, too - when do you think they'll bring out a cordless table saw?!  Actually, it's really just the circular saw that I'd really like to have, but from what I've seen, the cheaper ones don't cut much more than cardboard without draining the battery real fast.  Anyway, good luck with the buying decision.