Bought a new "toy" today.

Wow

Makita has really stepped up their design from the old basic blue. My old craftsman is starting to show its age, I was thinking Yellow & Black but I will have give the Makita a closer look

Dan

Yeah me too Dan. I've been using DeWalt for a long time and when I finally killed my last 18V Drill I was headed out to pick up another one because I've been very happy with it. But I'm so glad that I shopped a bit. This Makita is very powerful and just a little over HALF of the weight of a 1/2" DeWalt.

Best tool decision I'm made in a while!

John

I used Makitas for many years and wore out a LOT of batteries and always liked them but have been using a DeWalt XRP for three years now that I bought Reconditioned, and one of the batteries is about gone now. I don't think the batteries were new when I got it though. Glad to hear it's working well, and I may have to switch back when I replace this one, (that is if I can get used to looking at a drill that looks like a "NIKE"). I guess Hitachi started this new Design Feature, but it sure is hard for this OLD DOG to get my mind adjusted to take serious a tool that looks like a Teenager's Tennis shoe. I like the small size AND light weight as both features would sure be nice a lot of times.

Keep us posted on how well the drill AND especially the batteries hold up.

Jim Hager said:

I sure hope somebody is gonna turn out a good drill now days. It seems like all the companies are jumping on the band wagon of cheaper is better. I've got a whole box of worn out batteries and their accompanying drills that work just fine except they aren't worth a darn without a good battery. The batteries have always been my issue as they need to be retired way before the drill and are too expensive to replace when the latest model of the drill comes equipped with two new batteries and charger for less than two new batteries for the old drill. Sorry I just had to get on my soapbox for a minute.

Congrats on the new item for your shop. Give us an update after you put it through it's paces.

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Amen to that. This battery issue is the new planned obsolescence. A giant waste IMHO, especially in a time when we are trying to cut down on waste and be more environmentally aware. BTW, our local Lowe's has a box where old rechargeable batteries from tools can be deposited. These are then sent for 'reconditioning'. I have to wonder what is involved with reconditioning and who gets them (or gets to sell them for profit) afterwords. The only loser in this picture is us, the customer.:soapbox: