new battery vs new tool

Opinions wanted. I have a Makita cordless drill and a pair of Craftsman drill and impact driver. Battery packs are getting weak on all of them. Can order a pair of batteries for the mac for 160 bucks and a pair of batteries for the cm for 110 dollars. Or for the same price as 4 batteries I can buy a new drill and impact combo from DeWalt. What wood you do???

 

I have grown partial to ridged tools from Home Depot. They have a excellent warranty on everything including batteries as long as you register them.

 

Try batteries plus.
I took my old battery pack in & they were able to take it apart &
put new batts in. Cheaper than a new battery pack.
Might be able to get a better quality battery installed too.

 

I had a few Dewalt cordless tools. Junk compared to the Milwaukee 18v set I got last year. The Craftsman stuff is "meh" but it's priced accordingly. Dewalt... not so much.

 

Just a note on craftsman, not quite sure what direction Sears stores will be headed shortly but it's not looking good

 

Buy new , my ?? to you is how often do you use these tools ? Daily for work or like me a weekend guy ,that would set my price limit no need to over spend .

 

Got the dewalt 20 volt? Lithium battery......it's the only drill you need! It has all types of power, I sunk 6" lags with it no problem. The batteries have a long life to them.

 

Another option a guy at work mentioned is the powerextra brand knockoff replacement batteries. Anyone have experience with these???

 

Also Dewalt was suing people for selling tools that looked vaguely similar to theres. Like a cheap China made drill that happened to be yellow a friend put on eBay.

No where was "Dewalt" mentioned, but since it was yellow... apparently anything yellow they think they can control.

 

Uh. black Friday is Nov 28, 5 weeks away.

 

Simple answer... Are either the craftsman or Makita you have lithium ion? If not ditch them and go new, you'll never look back. Obviously nate doesn't like the dewalt, but I've had the DeWalt 20V drill and impact for over two years now. Use then every day professionally and I love them. Now I have the radio, saw-zall, flush cut saw, drill, impact, and light. Very nice set.

 

I bought a knock off Dewalt battery, I'm not impressed. The battery doesn't fit well in the tools and the electrical connection isn't good so it can get very hot.

 

You can send your battery packs out for a rebuild, about 1/2 the cost of replacement ones or a little more for better-longer run cells. Price is dependent on the voltage of the pack, I would not trust Batteries + around here the people in the store change like the diapers on a baby. Maybe if in a real pinch. At one time Ridged tools from HD ( house brand for them) had a lifetime warranty on battery pacs.

 

Still do as long as you register them.

 

I was in the same dilemma about a month ago. Dewalt set was made in the USA .
They have been super for this weekend user.

 

I have several DeWalt tools from 1997-2003 when they first came out,were still heavy duty & made in America.18v driver/drill,5.5" trim saw,sawzall,heavy flashlight.The 18v drill is about twice the weight of new models.Am down to 2 decent batteries for everything with 3 dead ones cluttering up the shop.

Not sure if I wanna spend the $100-120 for a pair of new batteries or spend same or little more for another 18v drill with 2 batteries. Its a lighter duty model than mine I think,Dad bought a set at Lowes about 5 yrs back for $100 on sale one day.

I called Interstate Batteries ( 3-4 in metro area,closest one is just a couple miles away) last summer,they quoted me around $50 to rebuild the 18v packs,so not much of a savings there.

 

Compare the tools to Milwaukee, ryobi, etc and you will find they are heavy, clunky and slow/low on power.
I'm not saying they are complete "junk" but you run a few other tools and its "WOW".
Kind of like using a $3 Chicom ratchet vs a $100 Snap on flex head 80 tooth, just Dewalt isn't cheap in price.

After they pulled that stunt with the china drill to a friend I have had zero reason to support them. All the Dewalt stuff I had i gave away or threw out.

 

I do find their 18V stuff to be very clunky and bulky. I have had great luck with the 20V. Nice and light and compact. The brushless stuff is even better. To each his own though, I can certainly respect that.