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My brother bought a cheap porter cable from a Home Depot promotion that linked it to a porter cable compressor and finish nailer...
At first I questioned why... he had just bought a house 25 years ago and had all kinds of things to do... ended up adding another bath, a family room and a bedroom...
Have to say the little drill really impressed me... it was shown no mercy and kept going.
I asked what happened to it and he said it needed batteries and one battery cost more than he paid for the drill with two batteries...
He bought a Makita and has been very please with that...
There are a lot of cordless drills laying around or tossed that simply need batteries.
That old saying in sales. People are not buying a drill. They are buying a hole.
This may be a recap on other suggestions. If you are going to use this drill this one time and maybe once yearly I'd go with a cheap corded drill. I have a few Makita cordless that are a godsend that I use often. I also have Milwaukee corded 3/8, a hammer drill and mega rotary hammer so I kinda know my holes.
The one problem with a cordless drill is that after you do your blinds and five months down the road you want to use it the battery will be dead or nearly so. Deal with an extension cord for the once a year stuff.
Also consider the weight of the drill. If you will just do occasional light work, you may want to look at lower volt models that weigh less and are easier to hold (and cost a lot less). I recently bought a 12 volt lithium driver at Harbor Freight and I use it more than my other heavier drivers because it is smaller and lighter and easier to just (no big battery pack handing off the bottom). Once in a blue moon it does not have enough power and i have to go to a bigger driver, but that is very rare. It is sufficent for 95% of the jobs I need it for and it cost very little (spare batteries cost very little on sale as well).
Also consider the weight of the drill. If you will just do occasional light work, you may want to look at lower volt models that weigh less and are easier to hold (and cost a lot less). I recently bought a 12 volt lithium driver at Harbor Freight and I use it more than my other heavier drivers because it is smaller and lighter and easier to just (no big battery pack handing off the bottom). Once in a blue moon it does not have enough power and i have to go to a bigger driver, but that is very rare. It is sufficent for 95% of the jobs I need it for and it cost very little (spare batteries cost very little on sale as well).
That being said, what do you do on those cases when the drill doesn't have enough power? Let's say you are in the middle of a job (on a weekend) and you don't have a more powerful drill? Like when I needed to fix my plumbing and had to drill into cinder block? Should you leave household with no water because it's "only 5%" of the cases?
I am not a business with statistics of revenues vs expenses, so only 5% of my tools purchase will be heavy stuff, the other 95% low power. It's either you have the tool or you don't. In my area, one plumber visit costs like 2 drills.
Bottom line: if only one drill buy the powerful one. A best investment in generic type tools.
That being said, what do you do on those cases when the drill doesn't have enough power? Let's say you are in the middle of a job (on a weekend) and you don't have a more powerful drill? Like when I needed to fix my plumbing and had to drill into cinder block? Should you leave household with no water because it's "only 5%" of the cases?
I am not a business with statistics of revenues vs expenses, so only 5% of my tools purchase will be heavy stuff, the other 95% low power. It's either you have the tool or you don't. In my area, one plumber visit costs like 2 drills.
Bottom line: if only one drill buy the powerful one. A best investment in generic type tools.
The correct answer is buy the 95% tool first and when you need that 5% tool, buy the cheap hammer drill at Harbor Freight for $30.
I have a 18v hammer drill and it's a beast, and a PITA to use every day.
Is that 20V Worx deal a better value / product than the other two? Is Worx even a decent brand? Is the 12V Ryobi underpowered and would it lack enough juice for about 1 hour's worth of use? Does the corded one beat out the other two in terms of potential power?
I kind of have my heart set on a cordless lithium one now since it would be drag lugging a power cord all around. I've been reading that the lithium batteries are pretty good and will allow you to charge them for years.
12v is a bit underpowered. It will suffice for putting up the blinds that you mentioned in your OP, but it won't work well if you want to drill a bunch of holes, or larger ones. If you are doing a more complex project like making a raised garden bed or hanging drywall in a small room you will find yourself running out of power.
If all you need to do is hang blinds, pictures, and drive screws for IKEA furniture you will be ok though.
Always get two batteries. Don't consider a cordless tool if you don't get two.
Cords aren't that bad. If you only very occasional projects, they are often better because you never have to worry if you have charge. That isn't an insurmountable problem though, simply put your battery in the charger on Friday night if you are going to be DIY on the weekend.
I don't know anything about Worx brand. Ryobi is renowned as cheap, bottom end tools, but you know that from unthread, and they will do fine for your purposes.
Personally, I prefer Bosch cordless tools. I have a number of them, the batteries are interchangeable, and they have plenty of power. I use them a lot though, as I do my own interior remodeling and my garage is used as a woodshop. Because of the price I wouldn't recommend them unless you really use them frequently.
Is that 20V Worx deal a better value / product than the other two? Is Worx even a decent brand? Is the 12V Ryobi underpowered and would it lack enough juice for about 1 hour's worth of use? Does the corded one beat out the other two in terms of potential power?
I kind of have my heart set on a cordless lithium one now since it would be drag lugging a power cord all around. I've been reading that the lithium batteries are pretty good and will allow you to charge them for years.
Get the 12v cordless for your purposes. Next drill if/when you need something bigger you can step up to the 18v variety. I sincerely do not recommend a corded drill. I bought a 1/2" many years ago and just really have no use for it. It was a waste of money. Unless you're mixing plaster or 5 gallon buckets of paint or drywall mud, there really isn't a need for a corded drill these days. And they are a PITA to work with.
I'm not sure what your finances are but this is a killer set, I wish this would've been around when I bought my 18v stuff. 18v is great when working with lots of room but I'd much prefer to have a smaller set as my primary drill/driver.
$40 for a reconditioned 20v drill. It only comes with one battery, which is unfortunate, but you won't beat the price for a cordless unit of this power. Don't worry about the reconditioned status. I have purchased several re-con tools from these guys and they have all been excellent.
That being said, what do you do on those cases when the drill doesn't have enough power? Let's say you are in the middle of a job (on a weekend) and you don't have a more powerful drill? Like when I needed to fix my plumbing and had to drill into cinder block? Should you leave household with no water because it's "only 5%" of the cases?
I am not a business with statistics of revenues vs expenses, so only 5% of my tools purchase will be heavy stuff, the other 95% low power. It's either you have the tool or you don't. In my area, one plumber visit costs like 2 drills.
Bottom line: if only one drill buy the powerful one. A best investment in generic type tools.
I pick up the larger drill and use it instead.
However i find I rarely use the larger one. In fact, I am not sure I have used it at all since I got the little one. The little one is much easier to use, lighter and I have four spare batteries for it which I keep charged. Although 12 volts is little more than half of the 18.whatever big one, it does not seem to be twice as powerful. In fact is it only marginally more powerful. I think it is kind of like cars. A 380 HP car is not twice as fast as a 190 hp car of the same weight. It is only a little bit faster.
The OP is talking about light duty work like putting up blinds. Hauling around a big heavy 18 or 20 volt drill for that purpose on the unlikely off chance you might once ever need a heavier more powerful unit, does nto make a lot of sense to me. You could get the smaller one, buy a corded drill at a garage sale for the bigger jobs, and still end up saving enough for a flight to Philidelphia.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 06-14-2016 at 01:26 PM..
Reason: Realized the little drill is 12 volts.
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