Electric drills

[Cousin Jack]

My old el-cheapo Homebase drill is fubared, or at least the batteries are fubared and replacements do not seem to be available.

So 'tis new drill time, and, being tight, I want a bargain.

Toolstation have this
Product code: 60545
DeWalt DCD709D2T-GB 18V XR Brushless Compact Combi Drill 2 x 2.0Ah
£99.98
was £189.98

While Screwfix have this
DeWalt
DEWALT DCD778D2T-SFGB 18V 2 X 2.0AH LI-ION XR BRUSHLESS CORDLESS COMBI DRILL (268FX)
£97.99INC VAT

or this
Stock Clearance
Mac Allister
MAC ALLISTER MSDD18-LI-2 18V 2 X 1.5AH LI-ION CORDLESS DRILL DRIVER (873FX)
£39.98INC VAT

Do I go for the MacAllister (never heard of them), or the De Walt (I have heard of them) ?

Bear in mind that this will be used occasionally, and mostly on light stuff, so massive power and ability to handle abuse is not really needed

[DefTrap]

DeWalt is good stuff, realistically will last you out. Makita also good.

Macalister is sort of mid range. Probably the batteries won't last too long.

[Cousin Jack]

DeWalt is good stuff, realistically will last you out. Makita also good.

Macalister is sort of mid range. Probably the batteries won't last too long.

That is my main worry. Cheap drill is fine, but cheap bill without batteries is what I have at the moment.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Buy a mains drill

[Mr. Dazzle]

I have an absolute no name Chinese one (literally no idea what brand it is) I've had about 8 years. Also gets occasional use, also still works. Cost about £25 on Amazon.

Depends how much you're gonna use it I guess. I bought mine for one very specific task (whacking in a load of screws when boarding my loft) which it worked for. Of course, 'cause IDGAS about it it will work for the next 27 years. How long you had the Homebase one and how does the cost of that / not having batteries compare to spending more on a 'branded' one?

Powertools = white goods IMO.

[Cousin Jack]

Homebase drill is probably 10-15 years old. Batteries self discharge in about 48 hours. Drill is ok, but 'soft feel' plastic surface is now sticky and orrible.

[Cousin Jack]

Buy a mains drill

Got one, about 25 years old. Still works, but PITA playing with extension leads and chuck keys. Also trigger is on/ off.

[demographic]

My wife has one of the brushless De-Walt combi drills. Not exactly sure which but its pretty decent.
She's got a few 5 Ah batteries, an impact screwdriver, a SDS drill and a multitool all on the same battery platform and hasn't had any issues with any of them.
I have a framing nailer, a powerplaner, a jigsaw and a LED site light on the same platform so theres a good bit on that platform.
McAlister seems to be B&Qs own range and there's not much else tools in the range compared to De-Walt.
Think the 5Ah batteries I have were about 65 quid a pop and I have two 9Ah batteries as well and they were about ￡225 for the pair.
Mines for proper trade useage and I'm happy enough with the stuff I have and am considering swapping over from my Hitachi rattle gun and combi drill when they die off.

[Skub]

McAlister is as demo says,B&Q's own brand. Some tradesmaen love them,because they are cheap and no service agent,so if/when the tool shits itself inside the warranty period,they bring it back to the store and get another one.

They are fine for home use,but tradesmen usually kill them after a while.

In the spirit of recommending what you have,Dewalt has done my casual home use for a few years now. I had a 10 y/o Bosch before that,still working when I gave it away.

[Kneerly Down]

So 'tis new drill time, and, being tight, I want a bargain.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/14-4v-li-ion-cor ... 4618197700

Probably similar to the Mac drill (the £43 18V Aldi equiv to the £40 Mac has 70% more torque and faster speed than the Mac) but the £25 14.4V will probably be at least as good as your old one...probably better.
It also has a 3yr warranty, although batteries are often considered 'consumable'.
Store the battery after fully charging and using a little bit to get it close to the ideal 80% state of charge for storage. Don't leave it completely unused for a year or more and it'll probably last a long time.

[demographic]

I've not checked the spec of them mind so just make sure they have a 13mm chuck and not a 10mm one cos the smaller chucks get bloody annoying when you can't fit bigger drill bits in.

[DefTrap]

I use my makitas quite a lot (regular home use). Batteries seem to last about 4 years until charge retention starts to drop off. The rest of it seems relatively indestructible, recently renewed a chuck on a drill that's over 10 years old.

[demographic]

I use my makitas quite a lot (regular home use). Batteries seem to last about 4 years until charge retention starts to drop off. The rest of it seems relatively indestructible, recently renewed a chuck on a drill that's over 10 years old.

I usually keep the chucks from cordless drills so I have a spare when needed.

[Taipan]

Makita LXT range all the way. Its fantatsic being able to buy other tools in their range that use the same batteries, although that's not unique to Makita. My reason for jumping ship from DeWalt to Makitas is every trade I know, or have seen, all seem use Makita and one of them is my mate who gives me free Makita stuff occasionally!

[Demannu]

I have an old 14v nicad makita.
Bit heavy handled, but put a decent bit in and it will do masonry, stainless, ti.

[Felix]

Another vote for Makita LXT range however i find my genuine batteries (5Ah) dont last to well when using the drill on hammer so always keep a mains power drill in the house and van. Then dont do to great with an Angle grinder either. Get to sharpen two hedge cutters and two mower blades and i need to swap them out with the spare.

[Zimbo]

I use Makita and Bosch, they both get fairly hard use drilling and tapping steel and a bit of masonry occasionally. The Bosch (18V from Screwfix) is faster than the 18V Makita, so good for pilot holes in steel, and also better hammer action into concrete, so that's where I'm heading next time I need to change. Batteries two years on are still like new.

[DefTrap]

Yeah I have a corded SDS for drilling masonry any harder than sandstone. Limitless power and because I don't use it so much I think a battery one might become annoying. My battery makitas will do it, if the masonry drill bit is new enough, but it does feel like abuse and I don't think it really does those twist chucks much good.