Hitachi DS18DSAL 18-Volt 1/2-Inch Drill/Driver

Comment:
Very pleased with item, delivered promptly, nice case and drill and light work as described and even better. For the price it was an excellent buy.

Comment: Bought 2 weeks ago, did projects around house, it is a powerful cordless drill, feels good in your hand, and I like the light. Batteries came with a charge, but topped them off, ready to go. Own a Panasonic 15.4 volt which I love, batteries went bad, new ones were $83.00, decided to try the Hitachi with the lithium ion for the price of two panasonic nicad batteries....so far so good.

Comment: This unit has excellent power and the batteries seem to last fairly long. What I like best about the unit is the balance in the hand and light weight. I may give it five stars later in my life if I find out that the drill lasts a long time and if repair parts are easy to come by along with a reasonable price.

Comment: I make no claims that this drill does anything more than satisfy my demands as a new home owner. I'm not a contractor, I'm not a hobbyist, i just need something that'll work when I need it to and have a little bit of flexibility as far as the jobs it can tackle. I finally settled on this drill after first splurging on a "serious" Milwaukee combo kit and then accidentally buying a NiCd drill (keep those receipts handy!). The ergonomics and weight distribution of this Hitachi drill are great! The batteries seem to live up to the hype. While some may complain about the clutch settings, I think that the low end is nice and gentle, but you can still flick the switch to "high" and set it to drill and it'll give you plenty of power when you need it. In short, I really like it and look forward to using it, rather than tolerating it.
The built in LED is pretty good at giving you some extra light on the subject and the belt clip is a nice feature as well. The flashlight feels like a cheap afterthought, its rigid plastic which probably won't survive too many bumps or falls.

A couple downsides: no area to clip a spare bit, its such a simple design aspect, I don't understand why companies are leaving this off their designs (the milwaukee drill I bought didn't have a slot/holder/clip either) The batteries don't have any power indicator so you won't know how much longer to go until you need a recharge. Also, the case is kind of oversized for the items included and they don't sit securely in the case, especially the batteries and charger. At some point I'll probably toss the case and just put the kit in a bag.

Comment: Pros: Very lite and good torqe.

Cons: Battery Life, Driver clutch.

My 5 year old Craftsman needed to be replaced because of a sticky trigger. I liked the Hitachi because it was lite and had the torqe I was looking for. Plus, it was the least expensive Li-ion drill set I found. It lasted all of two days and 50 screws (#12 1 & 1/2" self tapping into 14 ga steel). I had the clutch set at 22, and the first time the clutch slipped, it stripped the gears. Plus, I would average about 20 screws per battery charge. My 5 year old Craftsman would drive twice that many screws on a single charge, and I grinded it's clutch numerous times. I drove about 200 screws with the Craftsman into 1/4" steel.

This would be a nice drill for wood working or just drilling. But for metal work, its not tough enough.