Makita 6336DWBE 1/2-Inch Cordless Driver-Drill Kit, 2-Speed, Variable Speed, Reversible

This drill, like nearly all Makita tools, is flawless. Makita is especially good with cordless tools and they have led that field for a very long time. I am a professional theater designer/builder. I only say that to inform readers to the kind of work both my people and myself perform. Very exacting work usually on finish materials, and of course, under pressure. Equipment that is unreliable or worse, unpredictable, would do us in. If you look into any of our work trucks or job boxes you will find a predominance of Makitas.

With these drills, runout is lower than other manufacturer's corded drills that are more expensive. Chuck breakage is, well, I'll let you know if it ever happens. I have about 12 drivers and drills and I gave my oldest driver to my field supervisor as it looked like it would be the first Makita unit to "crap out". According to my Sup, it's still going strong helping him on the weekends with his household repairs.

Now the caveat. While...Read more

I compared the Makita 6336 with the DeWalt 983, literally. I also compared the Makita 6336 with the Bosch 3660 and Porter-Cable 9878. Handsdown, the Makita was a better drill over-all and they got my money. The Makita had much better speed control (and smoother setting shifts), better torque control (unlike the Dewalt with none at the lower speed), and a better battery (2.6Ah vs. 1.7 with DeWalt and 2.0 with the others, not to mention Makita's NiMH). Makita's new ratcheting chuck, similar to DeWalt's, was an added bonus.
As for top-end speed, unless your doing precision work (which would drive me to a drill press anyway), I saw no performance differences. And for high torgue, if I need to drive 1/2" lag bolts into railroad ties, I'll hire somebody. Bottomline, go with what you need, not with what someone wants to sell you.
My ranking, Makita #1, Bosch #2, DeWalt #3, and Porter-Cable #4.

I have been using this drill for about a year and love it! The torque is plentiful, 3" screws into stud walls with no problem the 2nd power setting is very handy for the extra umph and speed. The Clutch is very accurate. It has 16 clutch settings, way more than you'll ever need, but they are there if you want. The Metal front piece is great. I've chewed up several plastic noses on other makita drills and really prefer the metal. The drill feels very comfortable in either hand. Battery life is excellent with the 2.2nmh (black) batteries.