The first cordless I owned was Makita 9.6V. I thought it was great until I used someone else's Dewalt Cyclone 9.6V (anyone else remember those?)Bought 2 of those that were promptly stolen. All the carpenters were using 14.4V Dewalt by then so I replaced the stolen drills with Dewalt 14.4V so I could use the chargers that were on the jobsites. Had no complaints with the Dewalt 14.4 and used them for 5-6 years until they were stolen off an industrial long-term job. Showed up for work one day and they were gone. Needed a cordless quickfastandinahurry so I bought a PC 14.4V to get working that day. I was blown away by the torque and long-lasting battery. I bought 2 more. They worked great for about 5 years and then the batteries started dying one after another. Sold the PC drills to a local deckbuilder for cheap and bought Milwaukee 14.4V about 3 years ago. So far they are my favorite I have owned. My father-in-law (also an EC) wanted a Ryobi set for Father's Day a couple of years ago. He was asking for something different before Christmas the same year. I teamed with another EC a couple of years ago on a large industrial job who had Makita 9.6 stuff that he swore by. After a few days of shooting tek screws in to purlans I noticed we were only using my Milwaukee guns. The Makitas stayed in the jobox. Everybody likes what they like. I have another EC buddy who is sold on the Rigid line. I don't care for them myself. When someone asks me what I think they should get I tell them what I've had and what I have now. If you can get 3-5 years out of cordless tools using them the way I use them you've gotten your money's worth.
