DEWALT DC984KA 14.4-Volt Ni-Cad 1/2-Inch Cordless Hammer Drill/Driver Kit

This is a very dependable drill! You can depend on the batteries to be dead any time you want to use the drill - even if you charged them a few days before. You can depend on the chuck to wobble like an out of control spinning top. You can depend on the clutch not working at all in any gear other than 3rd (the fastest). You can depend on the transmission not shifting into any other gear smoothly. Lastly, you can depend on Dewalt customer service to try to convince you that thats how they designed these drills and there is nothing wrong with them. There are far better choices out there but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to mention them here.

Pros: Gobs of torque, enough to hurt you if your not careful but nice when you need it. Comfortable grips and well balanced. Hammer feature works very well. Great overall design. Comes with nice extention handle and well thought out case. Nice tough, all metal chuck. I love the light battery charger - it only weighs a few ounces...Read more

I like everything about this drill, except for the 3 speed gearbox. It refuses to change between gears smoothly. My 12 year old DeWalt 12v XRP changes between its 2 gears much more smoothly. When I first got it I thought it was broken, but I tried several similar models in various hardware stores and they all felt the same. I guess it's typical, but I hope I get 10 years out of this one.

Otherwise, the drill is great. Awesome power and battery life. Feels very balanced in the hand (I wouldn't buy a standard rear-handled drill again). Nice 1 hour charger. Sturdy case.

I recommend it, but if I could do it over again I would seriously consider a Panasonic.

*UPDATE*

After using the drill heavily since my last review, I have decided that the quality of this drill leaves a lot to be desired. It has good power, I'll give it that. But the clutch is worthless - it simply does not work unless you shift the gearbox into 3rd gear, but...Read more

Battery life is no better or worse than the other 14.4 Dewalt cordless - not as good as the 18v, but its lighter - something I like since I do a lot of drilling from ladders (putting up UHF antenna mounting hardware).

Clutch - not the best, but "ok". NONE of the bigger Dewalt drills have a great clutch - the smaller "drill/driver" units from Dewalt do a much better job. Er, for those who "fault" that, consider what you use a hammer-drill for? Making holes in stone and cement and brick. It does a fine job there, will clutch ok for larger screws. Don't expect it to work with fine finishing screws - like in a cabinet, or even drywall screws. Get the right unit for the job - jeeze!

The three speed transmission is fairly coarse in its throw from speed to speed. The transmission on a garbage truck is smoother, but the transmission on a 1963 Harley FLH Panhead is not! The drill is meant to be set for the speed you need for the task at hand, not shifted...Read more