Drills - Corded or Cordless?
Turbo Mini Forums

Im on the look out for a new drill, I will be using it for the mini, but also general household DIY i.e drilling through walls etc.

Been looking at corded ones thinking they were more powerful but looking at cordless, some of those are just as powerful.

Im looking to spend about £50ish

Any advice would be great

Matt

I have both - the cordless is way less powerful, and is useless on metal. I use the lectric one for most things in the garage, but the cordless is fine for in-doors diy.

For a spend of £50 get a mains one as a cheap cordless will be crap.

If you can stretch to around £120 ish there are some good deals on decent cordless drills, I bought a Makita with 3 batteries for about £140 a few years ago and its a great piece of kit, well up to nearly all jobs. I rarely use my mains one now. They've come down a bit now too.

I agree with Tom,

I've had quite a few cheaper cordlesses bought for me as Xmas presents over the years, even if they do have any punch the bateries soon give out,

We use makita's at work, they get abused daily, quote often for tapping 3/8unf threads through 1/4" high quality ally, we've had the motors smoking on them quite a few times through sheer abuse but not one has given out yet, last year the battery packs finally gave out on our 8 year old one!!

Save your money and get a better unit....I just got a Makita 18v Lithium....that thing could be used as a starter motor for my car!

Eric
my pics.... http://www.fototime.com/inv/7AAF37CF3EFA956

I thought you might all say that

Looks like spending money on the mini will have to wait!

well the alternative is to get a cheap mains drill,

i always thought cordless drils were pap too, but you defo get what you pay for, my cordless drill has tonnes of torque, use it to drill out locking wheel nuts all the time, tis a snap-on 18v thing but my boss has a makita and its what made me realise cordless drills are actually ok. if you already have other snap-on stuff like an impact gun, you can just buy the drill with no battery or charger for ~100 notes.

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

if the budget is £50 i'd go corded. If you can go a bit more, B&Q are doing 18v hitachi drill drivers for £90. I've had mine for a while now and very happy.

keep an eye out for ex demo stuff though. I also picked up an 18v dewalt drill driver during the summer for £50 again from B&Q

just echoning what everyone else has said to be honest, if youve only got £50, then grab a mains one. In fact chuck £45 back in the jar and go to a car boot sale and buy a second hand one for £5, that should last you a few years, all but 1 of my mains drills (ive got 4 think!) are older than me, and all still work perfectly. Aviod cheap cordless drills like the plaugue

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!

Ive been looking at this, cheaper than everywhere else, but might wait until the weekend as im hoping they have an easter sale on!

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?acti...ELAID=468160190

In boost we trust

only bother with makita if its the lxt series, i use other makita standard drill at work and go through battery after battery (replacing them) but at home i have an LXT one and its the dogs danglies, batterys last forever, its comphortable and its got some beans to it. you need to spend to get a good battery drill.

ARSE. Typed in a long reply and it crapped out and lost it.

In summary

1) The Lithium ones are better yes
2) But only really needed if you are a tradesman using the tool 8 hours a day 5 days a week
3) For DIY use the one pictured is fine
4) My very own is the same or very similar to it
5) For £95 I'd buy that tomorrow if I was in the market for a new one
6) However my 5 year old Makita is still going strong
7) For DIY and garage use I don;t think you need anything more

If your are spending the money, this is the one I have

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?fh_l...f&action=detail

it should come with 2 Li-on batteries and is quite lightweight.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

li-ion batterys are only needed if your using the drill/tool all day as they last longer. they still throw out the same current as a nicad battery. all my stuff is still nicad, gets used daily in work, and i need to charge a battery every 3-4 days. the upgrade to li-ion batterys (for 2 and the charger) will cost more than the drill, not really worth it. be different if i were a joiner or something though.

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

Just bought a makita 18v cordless with two batteries yesterday, on offer at B&Q £95, absolute bargain! Cheaper than eBay!

Hey first post on TM and commenting on a drill haha
i have a makita 18v Ni-Cd cordless (£100 B&Q) which is a good drill, battery life is good and the two batteries charge really quite fast, its great for diy etc and will generally get the job done. My mains drill is a BOSCH PSB 1000 RE (£100 B&Q), it all round a more powerful tool, it makes light work of most jobs. So id say get a mains if your primarily going to be in the house or garage. i know their twice your budget but, they should be comparable to drills half the price…

Screwfix do there own make 18v combo drill for £50 it has good reviews
http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-cdi28g-18v...mbi-drill/63177

or for a better name double your budget
http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ere185co...mbi-drill/88921

Edited by Mattlad on 19th Apr, 2011.

u can get a semi decent bosch corded drill for £50,
as above cheap cordless drills are just expensive paper weights

cheep drills are grate for wire brush use as they distroy any drill so why spend lots. but every day the more u spend the better

"Tuning should be a compromise between what is possible and what is necessary"

10)Thou shalt always quest for more power

Thread resurrection, I'm on the look out for a decent powerfull drill, I'm sick of replacing cheap drills, mainly to be used on metal, holesaws, wire brushing, general drilling etc I have a budget of £100-£120, do I go corded or cordless?

Audi s4 b5 - 470bhp & 486ft lbs

On 30th Apr, 2012 Brett said:
yeah stick the bit in and give it a wobble

corded, it never runs out when you need it

Done now needs redoing lol