Is anyone here using Ryobi cordless drills? I have been using one for about a year and it has been good and for the money it has been great. I paid $79 at Home depot for an 18v Drill, charger, two batteries and a light. I have been impressed so far.

Do not own one, but noticed the price for 18 V. battery is good.(Less then $30.00)

For occasional use they are great.

A company I worked for gave everyone the 14v (maybe it was the 12v). They worked great in residential and have lasted a long time.

I use the 18v combo kit and its great for everything I need. Chucks up to a 1" holehog bit for the dozen or so holes I might miss on a rough.

If I was a carpenter it wouldn't be that good. The power might be there but the battery life isn't.

The Ryobi was rated pretty good in a recent issue of Consumer Reports. I still wouldn't buy one as the long term reliability and quality is still a question mark. I'm normally a DeWalt guy, but I went out and ordered a Panasonic impact drill. All sources I've checked out highly rate this thing.

I always liked Dewalt too. Here lately I have been on a little tighter budget and I could not pass up the Ryobi at $79. Will it last as long as Dewalt, I doubt it but for $79 I can buy two Ryobi with change to spare versus the cost of one Dewalt 18V non XRP drill. Give me another year with the Ryobi and I will have a more informed opinion about them.

Regards,
Ty

Ryobi is garbage...I had the 5 pc set the drill and the sawzall broke after like 2 months. The batteries died at about 5 months. The charger broke at 6 months. My foreman got a Ryobi hammerdrill and 2 months later is burned out. The hes also been through many batteries. Remember you get what you pay for. Buy Dewalt

To tell you the truth, I've had my 19.2v EX Craftsman cordless for about 16 months now, use it daily. It's held up so far and has a decent amount of power. I use hole-saws at least 3 days a week, paddle bits, regular bits, I drive screws through whatever, sometimes even force my way for a small hole with a masonry bit (the drill isn't a hammerdrill though) and keeps u without a problem. Has fallen down MANY times off the ladder, not a single problem.

Hmmph! Voltages in the teens are for kids!

Kidding, of course, but I love my DeWalt 24-volt drill, recip saw, and circular saw. Strong as corded tools.

"Hmmph! Voltages in the teens are for kids!"
How old are you? Better yet hows the arthritis?

Anyway, I think this type of thread pops up every month or so...

Working with giant batteries is more pain than rolling out a cord.

If you are drilling holes, no cordless can compare to a corded drill. (If there is no power on site... You are an Electrician, right?) If you are driving screws, nothing will compare to a 12-14v impact gun of any make. At which point I would choose Makita, Panasonic, or Dewalt, for a quality work all day long tools.

As for battery life, knowing when to put it on a charger makes all the difference. At the first sign of weakness. I keep seeing people with obsolete battery habits. (thowbacks to the days of battery memory and the turquois bannana Makita) Running modern non-memory batteries down like that is the end of the drill motor, and its battery.


[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 01-11-2006).]

Mine was $89. It lasted until the second deck I built. I was using 3 1/2 inch deck screws without predrilling the holes. The head gears "kinda died". My old Porter Cable finished the deck ... but it cost me $179.

"How old are you? Better yet hows the arthritis? "

I guess I'm stronger than the average bear, but I can hold my 24v drill in one hand, straight out, and drill through 2x framing with a 7/8" auger without it twisting my wrist, including pulling it back to clear the hole.

One of my guys insists on reversing the drill to pull the auger back out, and I can't convince him that method leaves the hole partially blocked. His response is to spin the auger on high speed for about 5 seconds.


Oh, by the way, I'll be 51 this May . . . Sonny.

[This message has been edited by Larry Fine (edited 01-11-2006).]

I got a Milwaukee 12V about eight years ago. then, at a Home Depot sidewalk sale I picked up 2 Ryobi drills, a small saw and 4 batteries 14.4V all for a rediculous price. the saw wasn't of much use, cutting trim maybe, altho it would cut a few 2x4s before pooping out when new. the drills worked well for a couple years till the batteries all died one by one. At $50 each for new batteries I just threw the drills away and went back to my old Milwaulkee (not the beer) which is still going strong. When It's time for a new one I am looking at the new Lithium powered ones.

So I guess the Ryobis were worth it in the sense they gave me my money's worth, but I still prefer quality. One good thing about the Ryobi's, it doesn't hurt so much when they get ripped off.

BigB....watch the 28V Milwaukee... its not as tough as they claim it is. If super battery life and power is what you are after, check out Panasonic. Ni-MH batteries are the way to go!!

I had a Ryobi 5-pack that lasted me a whole 3-4 months before everything (exept the flashlight) started to break down. I definitely would not recommend them for the professional but if they're good for you... then they're good for you. Before the set totally broke down, my truck was broken into and the set was stolen.

I'm a Dewalt guy. I recently jumped from the Dewalt 14.4 to the 18volt and I'm very happy with it. I used the 14.4 for the longest time because it served me well for everything I needed to do. Now, I'm doing more commercial type work and needed more power.

By the way, I did not know that about the batteries. Thanks for the tip, e57.

I don't personally use Ryobi, but my little brother has been using them for some time and they have been working out very well for him. Little to no problems so far.

I use Makita myself, my older brother uses Ridgid and my father uses DeWalt. So I have has a good look at everything. I still like Makita the best but the Ryobi tools are not bad for the money.

we have 5 vans,2 guys per van,two ryobi 5 piece kits per van.they seem to work well for the money.and when the company suplise the tools people dont tend to care for them as if they owned them,we tend to replace about two drills per year sawsall about one a year.

Use an 18v Dewalt at work, excellent and rugged.I Own an 18v Hitachi that gets as much use and would buy another over the dewalt as it is only 60% of the cost and 95% of the quality. Feels nicer in the hand than the dewalt also. I wont buy cheap battery products anymore, they cost more in the long run as you buy one after the other, I see my dad doing this as if hes going to find the elusive mystery brand drill for 50 bucks that is as good as my dewalt or hitachi just so he can say told ya so!