> DeWalt, Bosch, Hitachi, Milwaukee and Skil (amongst others, I'm sure) all
> seem to offer the 18V combos. I've not examined their individual tool
> choices in their combos, but I'd be interested in hearing any
> recommendations regarding choice of brands.
I once had a DeWalt 14.4 that lasted through enormous use and abuse over
six years or so. It succumbed to a fall onto concrete from the top of a
15-foot ladder (imagine that?)
I replaced it with another DeWalt of newer design that began having
problems fairly quickly - design problems, it appears, since a lot of it
seemed to be case-flex related - and it died soon thereafter.
I'm now using a $9 eBay Milwaukee 14.4V (it *looks* ugly as hell, but
it's *worked* great, last night I drilled a couple more holes in the
steel forklift/sled assembly I'm mounting my compressor on to winch it
up the wall and out of the way.)
Since I also got a cordless Sawzall I'll probably stick with Milwaukee
for now. Their drills are really AEG, used to be German-made but the
new ones are sourced in Eastern Europe now (Slovakia?) just as DeWalt
moved their production from the US to Mexico and just about everyone
else is now Chinese.
I'll just mention that an 18v tool is noticeably heavier than a 14.4v
tool, it's all a matter of where your comfort level lay and what your
needs are.
John.
|