OK - I've been after a cordless drill for years, but promised myself I wouldn't buy one until my faithful Bosch corded drill died. After many years and more than a little abuse it hasn't died and shows no sign of dying either. With that I've decided to go-ahead and get a cordless drill anyway.

With the choice out there and a budget of £130.00 I don't know what to buy. Can anyone recommend something at that price from experience?

A keyless chuck would be nice, but is not essential.

Reverse would also be nice to aid withdrawal from the work piece.

My Ryobi one has coped with everything I've thrown at it. Concrete, brick and steel no issues. Battery has been good for 5 years.

I am a fan of the bosch stuff, I would be buying this
http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb18-2-li-plus-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/9647j
or this

http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb-18v-lids-professional-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/17024

It is easy to be tempted by bigger batteries for a bt extra cash, but think carefully. Bigger batteries are bigger(!) and heavier. And how often will you be using the drill continiously to drain a second battery before the first has recharged? most of us very very rarely, if ever.

I bought the screwfix own brand erbauer for about £75, I had to check it was actually in the box. Nice and light, but a couple of very minor niggles (chuck sometimes catches and has to be whizzed fully closed to sort it, takes a couple of seconds and happens maybe 1 in 50 times)

In retrospect, I probably should have got a bosch. My previous was a bosch DIY drill, and one battery died after 4 years, so became the garage drill. Got a spare battery off the bay, and it was pressed into proper service this week, good as gold. Bit heavier/clumsier than the erbauer though.

[Edited on 18/5/16 by cliftyhanger]

Useful to know!

I have a Ryobi cordless strimmer with two batteries so maybe they would be interchangeable.

You will probably get more different opinions than we have locosters!

People tend to be quite loyal to tool brands for some peculiar reason with the possible exception of Black & Decker

I'm a Makita fan, the first one built my house from scratch although I did have a few other tools. Bro in law swears by Bosch whilst I swear at them although I'd admit the jigsaw is good.

Any well established brand is good and you get what you pay for. Generally look at what tradesmen use (Makita!!)- they will last and hold a decent charge. You need 3 batteries if you are going to make it work for a living.

If you are doing a lot of masonry drilling there is no substitute for weight.

Cheers!

Pleased with my Dewalt.

I would recommend going for the highest voltage and Li-Ion instead of Ni-Cad.

Saw one in Screwfix this week: £99, inc. 2x 18v Li-Ion batteries.

I'm a bit of a Dewalt fan. I have a Ni-Cad cordless drill and impact gun (superb bit of kit - can chew through drill bits faster than I go through Jaffa cakes!). I have 2 chargers and 4 batteries which keep me going when I'm 'working'.


Plenty to chose from - http://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/drills/cat830704#category=cat830704&brand=dewalt&cordedorcordless=cordless

Wyn

Dewalt hammer dril,brilliant

I see cordless kit being all down to the batteries rather than the tool. If you can get good use out of a battery, repair it if required and replace it when the time comes, then it'll be fine.

I've had Aldi cordless drills and they have been fine to use, lasting a fair bit of time and being reasonably powerful. But as soon as the battery stopped charging the drill was useless.

If my wife let me have the money I'd be focusing on the availability of new batteries rather than manufacturer or other specs.

Without doubt Dewalt XR series don't mess with the rest they are made by Black and Decker (their corporate owners). I have three of these would not part with one.

I've recently bought a Titan Combi from Screwfix (£59), so far it's been fantastic. Two Li batteries, some accessories and a storage case it'll never see.

I've absolutely abused a cheap NiCad Ryobi (B+Q) for many years, after taking the plunge with cordless. It still does an amazingly good job, but the batteries have now lost capacity, so I've just converted it to a 12V paddock drill.

i got a titan from screwfix as well,small,light,does hammer,puts screws in,and i use it as a mini impact wrench,whats not to like ?.

i have the hitachi, makita and dewalt from screwfix all the same price all 18v with two lithium ion batteries all very much the same drill, makita seems the best made out of the three

Dewalt drill for me with 4ah battery, don't go near a corded drill anymore.

Definitely get a Li-ion battery model, they are much quicker to recharge, no memory effect and no discharge over time. My Bosch is my go-to tool and probably gets used almost every day. It has done me well for over 6 years, is powerful and even copes well with masonry.

Mine originally only came with one battery, which was fine as it charges quickly, but I bought a second one when doing some non-stop work. The original battery is still going strong and lasts as long as the newer one.

Here on Amazon complete with 2 batteries, good value considering a spare battery is 30 odd quid: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-PSB-1800-LI-2-1-5/dp/B00L3XK06C

HITACHI. 18V Lithium for me. Nice!

Down to the last battery of 3 after 5 years of abuse of my Makita so time to replace.
I bought the SFix erbauer mentioned above for 75 quid I think -7645F. Really, really nice, loved the steel chuck on it but nice and light with a couple of Lithium batts. Unfortunately there was an issue with it - eccentric chuck - so it went back and now they seem to have pulled 500 of them from stock so apparently not an isolated issue.
However it was so good that I am happy to wait a week or two until the get new ones in. So the Makita has been pulled out of retirement!

Off forum DeWalt has been recommended so will probably go that way when purchasing. Mt trusty corded Bosch doesn't seem worth anything so will probably keep it safe in case I need it in future.

Thanks all for the input chaps - much appreciated and likely to purchase this weekend

B&Q have a DeWalt on offer at the moment - £68 or £100 with a spare battery:

http://www.diy.com/departments/dewalt-cordless-18v-li-ion-combi-drill-1-battery-dcd776c1-gb/765799_BQ.prd?icamp=HP_BM1_DeWaltWW_P_2005

Edited the link

[Edited on 20/5/16 by geoff shep]

quote:

---

Originally posted by geoff shep
B&Q have a DeWalt on offer at the moment - £68 or £100 with a spare battery:

http://www.diy.com/departments/dewal t-cordless-18v-li-ion-combi-drill-1-battery-dcd776c1-gb/765799_BQ.prd

---

At any one time, my factory floor has at least 30 cordless drills in full time operation. To keep consistency, we use the same make / model drill throughout the shop floor.

Over the years, I've phased in and out all of the main drill brands (makita, milwaukee, bosch, hitachi etc......) so have experienced on a large scale everything they have to offer.

Up to now, the best compromise (cost vs performance) I've found are dewalt, and more recently the XR series which have been phase on the shop floor this year.

We currently have 32 of the dewalt XR DCD776. Out of these 32, we've had 2 with chuck failures (drill bit keeps coming loose no mater how tight the chuck is) and 1 drill had a speed control problem (the speed would vary up and down even though your finger was hard on the trigger).

These problem were all resolved under the 3-year warranty on the drills.

Battery life is good. The Li-ION battery seems to keep full speed / torque on the chuck right until the very end of it's charge (unlike the older battery dewalts).

The XR dewalt is also lightweight but tough (ours get some abuse).

If you go dewalt, don't forget to register your drill for the 3 year warranty.


PS....I am in now way connected to any drill company.

DeWalt for me too

Bought mine just about 2 years ago, and it's been worked hard on my extension roof (and dropped from the top once too )and it's still going with a year left on the guarantee.

I have since got a full quiver of DeWalt tools and they are all pretty good.