I am asking the wifey to get me one of these for Xmas.
Thing is I have no idea what spec I should ask for. It is for occasional use only but there are so many different voltages to choose from.
I guess the higher the voltage the more powerful the drill is? P=VxA ?????
She doesn't have big bucks to spend, but I don't want to end up with a chocolate fireguard.
Cheers

Go to Screwfix.com ...... There Erbauer are ideal for 'occasional' use , and don't cost too much , I would go for 18V as they have plenty of power plenty of power ..... I use DeWalt , but mine get hammered every day and cost quite a bit !

Nate.

Generally, the higher the voltage the better, 18V is common, can be had fairly cheap and powerful enough for most uses. I got an 18V one with battery pack and charger for about £20 (Macro were doing one of their silly special offers at the time), and it has been great through moderately heavy DIT use for a couple of years.

A few obvious things to look for, e.g. if you're going to dill a lot of walls, get one with hammer action. Variable speed is a must IMHO, but I think you'd struggle to find one that doesn't have that now.

The hammer action on all cordless combi drills are only good really for soft brick or blocks. If you only need it occasionly, like drilling bits of wood/metal screwing stuff together etc, I would get a decent non-hammer drill, and one of those disposable pistol mains drills ( with hammer action ) from B&Q, IIRC, they are only about £20, and they drill masonary miles quicker than any cordless, bar an SDS type.

I would get something like this, :

http://diytools.com/store/detail.asp?productid=63551

I have got the combi equivalent, they are mint to use, cost me £50 off ebay, second hand. I have a bit of a fetish for cordless drills (see below :rolleyes: ), just lazy, because I cant be arsed changing drill/screw bits, although some are for work and some are for home:

AEG 9.6v
Dewalt 9.6v
AEG 12v
AEG 12v combi
Hitachi 14v combi
Atlas Copco 18v combi
Panasonic 24v SDS


If you dont fancy the B&Q sh1tter for masonary use get one of these:

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/details.php?cat=Hammer%20Drills&product=997

I bought 9 a while back and flogged every one for profit :D ( I already had one anyway ). the black handle is removeable and you hold the main motor body instead, there are 2 triggers, the cheapest I saw these was at £99 from axminster.co.uk, but it was on offer at the time.

there you go, prezzie sorted !

[Edited by mj - 11/26/2003 9:40:12 PM]

Cheers guys.
Will probably just use it on wood so those £20 ones will be fine :)
Wasn't sure why there were so many different voltages though.
Mark

I got one of these (http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=1001&productId=62504) from Argos. £59.99, 18V, 2 batteries, and a free corded hammer drill. Only critisism is that its a bit heavy, but I've used it loads over the summer and its been fine.

Cheers

Steve.

I have had a black and decker firestorm 18v for over 3 years, and it is awesome IMHO. its fallen off ladders, and survived, been thown, charges within 1 hour, hammer action, pletny of torwue settings, and all in is excellent. Cost about £100 IIRC

However, for screwdriver function, i came across one that is better IMO, a makita.

As an all rounder, the Firestorm wins, slightly heavy, but ok, and IIRC ist a DEWALT under a different name!

Steven