Shopping for cordless impact driver

[bonzoscott]

Like to hear opinions on the best cordless impact driver. There are quite a few choices out there. I'm leaning toward Hitachi mainly because of "Covered by Hitachi's lifetime LI-ION tool warranty ". What is the benefit of "Brushless motor". I'm also leaning towards 20v Li-ION. But I see on Lowe's site, some of the 18v or lower are sometimes twice the price! Please add any comments or experiences you've had.
Thanks!

 

[K-2]

Just throwing this out there:
http://www.factoryauthorizedoutlet.com/cordless-tools/20v-max-lithium-ion-cordless-all/

 

[Harritwo]

Since 1990, I have used Makita's. I have a 9.6V drill that was purchased in 1990 and still in use today. I have an 18v Lithium Ion Drill and Impact driver, 2 batteries, and a charger I bought 2 years ago and I love it. Batteries hold a charge, the drills are light weight, and for me, the single most important things is they are not Dewalt. I also have a Bosch 1/2" Hammer Drill that i bought in 1990, I had the motor and chuck repaired 3 years ago. All of these are used constantly and have held up well. Below is a link to the driver.

http://www.makitatools.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?Name=XPT03

 

[thumpar]

I was at the local Lowes just a couple days ago getting some lock work done and they had a demo setup of the new cordless equipment. While I waited I got to play. I liked the Dewalt Li-on impact. It was very compact and worked great. One thing about Li-on if you go that route is that they hold their charge until the end. They will work for a long time and then all of the sudden they are dead. It is not like the NM batteries that taper off as they die so be ready for it.

 

[MTboatguy]

I ended up with one, it was in a kit of Ryobi tools I bought at HD and I am surprised, it actually works pretty good, of course it is not an air impact but it does the things I want to do with and I considered it to be free, because I was going to buy the other tools anyway.

 

[rogerwa]

I bought the combination drill/impact 18V set from Milwaukee reconditioned from CPO and couldn't be happier. I think I got it with 2 batteries, charger, and case for less that $200

 

[minuteman62-64]

Don't know if you are a heavy duty commercial user or a DIY'er. If a DYI'er, as I am, I'd think more about the batteries. If you have other cordless tools, it's great to be able to interchange batteries. Some brands of batteries may be crap (I've had bad luck with the Ryobi batteries). Some brands may cost an arm and a leg to replace.

I've gone with the Ridgid stuff from HD (partly because they had some sales when I was buying). Done all I've asked of them and had good luck with battery longevity and more or less reasonable replacement costs.

If you're a contractor w/heavy duty use, the above may not apply.