**Item: **Hitachi Drill/Driver + Rotary Tool Kit
Price: $124.99
Shipping Options: $5 Standard OR $15 Two-Day OR $18 One-Day
Condition: New
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Previous Similar Sales (May not be exact model)
6/29/2013 - $124.99 - 17 comment(s)
6/6/2013 - $139.99 - 26 comment(s)
Tons of outstanding reviews for The Drill
[youtube=pBVrUsWFslo][/youtube]
[youtube=uR0U_J9kdvM][/youtube]
Perfect reviews on the mini grinder over at amazon
Let’s watch the mini grinder in action [youtube=4eOkUKBwtLo][/youtube]
This is a really nice set. I’d be buying this if I didn’t already have the Hitachi drill. Lots of different projects around the house you could do with just these two tools and nothing else. Maybe throw a hammer in the bag.
Has the power of batteries come a long way from the past? I have an 18V black and decker that I have to fight with to drill/drive into a pressure treated deck, and that’s on a full charge; the power just isn’t there. I see 12v here, and there was, I think, drill/driver around 7 or 8v at some point.
So the question is, are today’s 12v more powerful than those of yore, or are they the same, and this set would be intended for light projects?
[QUOTE=acowinthecrowd, post:7, topic:392578]
Has the power of batteries come a long way from the past? I have an 18V black and decker that I have to fight with to drill/drive into a pressure treated deck, and that’s on a full charge; the power just isn’t there. I see 12v here, and there was, I think, drill/driver around 7 or 8v at some point.
So the question is, are today’s 12v more powerful than those of yore, or are they the same, and this set would be intended for light projects?
[/quote]
I bought one of these about a month ago and use it every weekend at my second house. Very impressed with Battery life, still running on first charge.
I would love to just purchase the rotary tool and attachments. I have a wonderful Makita drill set and have absolutely no need for the drill in this kit.
I own several Hitachi tools and find them to be among some of the very best tools available. They are well engineered, well built and they have a long working life.
Unfortunately, I don’t like the practice of “bundling” tools, as it seems you are forced to buy a tool that you don’t really use or need. Those people in charge of marketing Hitachi tools must believe that this is a means of selling MORE of those slower moving tools on the coat tails of a super moving tool. Some consumers (such as myself) simply shy away from these bundled tools, preferring to buy the single tool instead. In the past I’ve purchased a drill with a light using the same battery and a drill with a box of hand tools. In both cases, I’ve only used the drill and NEVER or very rarely used the bundled items.
[QUOTE=acowinthecrowd, post:7, topic:392578]
Has the power of batteries come a long way from the past? I have an 18V black and decker that I have to fight with to drill/drive into a pressure treated deck, and that’s on a full charge; the power just isn’t there. I see 12v here, and there was, I think, drill/driver around 7 or 8v at some point.
So the question is, are today’s 12v more powerful than those of yore, or are they the same, and this set would be intended for light projects?
[/quote]
No, and maybe. 12v is 12v anywhere you go, and the amount of voltage supplied to the motor dictates how much power it can put out, and therefore how much force is used to turn (and then strip, and then yell at) the screw/bolt/whatever you’re working on. 12v is, at least in my DIY’er research, the bottom rung of heavier duty power tools for harder projects, and you won’t be able to do things with a 12v drill that you can do with, say, a 20v. I know that’s a nebulous statement, so here’s an example from some work that I just did on the house. Let’s say you’re hanging some drywall, and you’re trying to put long drywall screws into the 2x4’s to secure it in place. For a 12v drill, you’re probably only going to get a 1 1/4in, or maybe a 1 1/2in screw in place before the force of the screw compression in the wood overwhelms the 12v drill motor and the drill stops. The 20V drill, by comparison, will be able to put in a 2in or 2 1/2in screw no problem, because the motor has enough power to do so.
There are ways to compensate for this, such as pre-drilling holes, but if you’re doing a project where that’s time prohibitive, such as building a deck or hanging drywall, it becomes a massive chore and you’d be much better served buying the right tool to begin with.
As far as the charge goes, these things will last and last. I just used my friend’s Craftsman lithium, and that thing went for the entire time we were doing garage drywall and then some. I’d expect this to be no different.
Got this last time it was up for sale, worked right out of the box. Very nice little set. The only thing that bothers me is that the rotary tool is always on, it not a press trigger to function type mechanism. So if you are prone to being clumsy and drop this thing on your lap at full speed could be a interesting time.
[QUOTE=acowinthecrowd, post:7, topic:392578]
Has the power of batteries come a long way from the past? I have an 18V black and decker that I have to fight with to drill/drive into a pressure treated deck, and that’s on a full charge; the power just isn’t there. I see 12v here, and there was, I think, drill/driver around 7 or 8v at some point.
So the question is, are today’s 12v more powerful than those of yore, or are they the same, and this set would be intended for light projects?
[/quote]
The big difference is the battery chemistry. Older tools typically have NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries which tend to deteriorate significantly over time. Newer models (including these) tend to have LiIon (Lithium Ion) batteries, which in my experience tend to stand up to time and abuse better, as well as being smaller and lighter.
Having said that, a fully-charged, good-condition 18v NiCad will give you more power than a fully-charged, good-condition 12v LiIon - it just won’t last as long.
Also I own several Hitachi battery-operated and corded tools and can vouch for the great quality for average home users. But I doubt these tools are heavy-duty enough for full-time contractors.
[QUOTE=jrwwallis, post:13, topic:392578]
But I doubt these tools are heavy-duty enough for full-time contractors.
[/quote]
As a full time, licensed, contractor - you can read my review of the 18v on Amazon. Best 18v drill I’ve ever owned. 5+ years later, one is still going strong, the other just had the speed controller give up last month.
I’ve drilled 7/8" with an auger through a 48"+ hand-hewn header that destroyed two corded Bosche.
Make no mistake: the 18v Hitachi will eat a 21v “firestorm”. It’s not all in the battery. There’s motor and gearbox and chuck to consider too! I’ve seen the Black and Decker gearboxes explode just augering through 2x’s.
The 12v is a little light-duty for what we do, but I have a couple of them for driving screws. The 18v just gets too darned heavy with my [lack of] upper body strength holding it over my head for long hours.