Drills Reviews

We have this, but with a larger family, it is really slow going. Doing a LOT of food on a campout with lots of kids and hungry people -- you'll be cooking for a long time. Go for an item with higher BTU's that you can just crank up and get it done.... With a couple of people, okay to use, but it does take time to even just heat water. Plan for heat it up dishes that don't need cooking time.

This review is based on a very limited use of this product, as it is new and the need for using it is not great. The stove is nicely designed and easy to set up. The gas feed tube screws onto the gas cylinder and then into the right side of the stove. Because of the design, only the squat 16.4 oz. tanks are usable, though it may be possible to obtain an adapter and hose to run the stove from refillable tanks. The proper disposable tank will not fit into the stove cabinet for travel, so fuel cylinders must be carried separately. This may be a problem for those who need maximum compactness. The throw-away cylinders may be undesireable for those who are carrying their equipment into remote regions that have no trash pickup service.
The stove lights easily with a match or other device and it meets my needs for heat output. The stove was purchased to allow flexibility during the time that our kitchen is remodeled. It was also bought as a backup cooking device, should we have an electrical outage. So far, so good. Amazon was good to its word on shipping and product description.

With summer almost here, this little unit is a neccesity for any outdoor camping trips and then some! It portable, light weight and goes anywhere you go. Great for cooking all your favorite meals and no need for electrical power! No person should be without one of these unless you plan to tug your backyard grill all over this great nation only for a mere hamburger, with that in mind, just go to Mickey D's! LOL.

Bins are nice and roomy, easy to take out if needed. Handle on top is a nice feature. BIG DOWNSIDE is this bin does not work with the Crawford peg board. It has pins on it that do not align with the holes in the pegboard. I ended up screwing it to the wall, which was not my original plan. It may fit on other pegboards but the manufacturer should have made it fit their own product.

This is a great item for any shop and does fit into the holes of shop grade pegboard (4x8 sheets) from Home Depot, etc. The one disappointing aspect was in the shipping from Amazon; out of the five units I ordered, three were damaged in shipment. The small plastic tabs that hold the unit on the pegboard are very fragile and break easily. The shipping department needs to be more careful when packaging plastic items. When I wrote to Amazon this week concerning replacement, I was told the PB2 unit wasn't available from their supplier any longer. If you order, be prepared for that issue. Other than that, I would order more if they become available again.

Overall I'm impressed with the performance of this drill.

However the belts on the top seem to vibrate a lot, I guess its because they used cast pulleys instead of machined. This is running at the max RPM which I typically do for my type of drilling.

I was hoping this would go away after the break in period but I have used the drill for about 10 months now and still it vibrates a lot. Finally I purchased a powertwist belt which makes this bearable but still not as well as I would expect.

I've had this drill press for about a week now, so this is a fairly brief review. I bought this particular version from a local large home supply establishment. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.

I carried it home in a VW New Beetle, so it's a manageable package. It came well packed in a sturdy cardboard box lined with foam. I and took it downstairs in pieces, since the whole box is near 180 pounds. It assembled quickly. There are really only 4 parts; the base, the support post, the table, and the motor and belt head. The hardest part was cleaning off the packing grease -- I used kerosene -- and then waxing all the bare metal parts with paste wax.

I measured the runout with my admittedly less than high quality dial indicator and a spare mill bit in the chuck and came out with around .0018" I haven't done any real heavy cleaning of the chuck assembly so there could be some grit or packing gunk inside.

Speed changes are easy by moving a small lever and loosening a thumbscrew. The only thing I'm less than completely happy with is the table assembly. It uses a rack and pinion to raise and lower the table. The rack is held against the post by just a ring up top and it fits into the base at the bottom. There is no support along the length of the rack so there ends up being quite a bit of play in the middle of rack where it sags out away from the post. As a warning to overly harsh treatment, the rack on the display model at the store was severly bent. Also to angle the table, you have to get under it and pull a pin. I haven't tried that yet, but it could have been made easier.

I did try angling the table last night. To me it's a pain, but I don't know how common this method is. You have to remove the pin, which comes out with the use of a wrench, and then loosen a big bolt that holds the table. The bolt is hard to get to being between a couple of reinforcement webs and is large. I think it's a metric just smaller than 15/16". I used a 15/16" socket and it was a little loose, while 7/8" was too small and I don't have a 31/32" wrench to try and my metrics only go up to 17mm. I did see a quick release bolt in another catalog for drill presses that might work.

The tools seem to be very nice although I have not had a chance to use them a lot yet. Light is a bit of a waste but the drill, powered hand saw, jig saw and three batteries all piles into the super large case weigh a ton. It might be better to split the stuff up into 2 smaller cases.. plus the stuff seems to shift around in the case a bit. I am still waiting for the FREE tool I was supposed to receive from Dewalt on the mail order deal that was offered. If the extra fee tool comes then this was a great deal with free shipping.

I've had this set for nearly four years now.
As a collection, it's great because you dont need different sets of batteries or chargers.
but its really about the separate tools

1.The drill- the best cordless drill on the market. its perfectly balanced. powerful. sturdy. totally reliable. the hammer mode is great too. i love this tool.

2.the flashlight- a very handy option. in deciding to buy this set, i didnt think i liked the flashlight much, but i use it a lot.

3.trim saw- its great for those one or two cuts. has a nice balance and is pretty sturdy. depth adjustment is simple and easy. the bevel is a bit shakey, and not properly balance for accurancy. the guide is worthless. this saw eats up the battery very quickly. doesn't replace a corded. not even close.

4.recipro saw- again, great for small projects. i use it a lot to cut steel and copper pipes. doesnt have much power, but if you need portability or a light weight recipro, its great. for me and my needs, this does replace a corded.

5. jig saw. i hate this saw. it pisses me off when i see it in my tool crib. i really wanted to love it. i love curved cuts and intricate work. i thought i;d love the portability, but i realize i was just caught up in the cordeless craze. this tool fills no niche. get the four pack and avoid this tool. heres why: the chuck is keyless, sure, but its plastic and stripped out on me. the power is weak. the tool is improperly balanced for smooth cutting,. you need to pay more attention to holding it steady and flat than where the blade actually is. and, when do you ever need a cordless jigsaw? you don't. jig saw work is workbench work. buy a corded one.
i have an 80 dollar corded dewalt jig saw that is 10 times the saw that the cordless version is.

I bought this item because i needed two more 18v batteries and it is a better deal to get two tools with the batteries instead of buying the batteries separately, it works out to spending $50 and getting a second hammer drill and cut out tool. The hammer drill is great I now have two. it is a bit heavy so expect your wrist to give out after a long day. Also the drill has more kickback and recoil then it should. I'm a bit dissatisfied with the cut out tool, there is no variable speed control, and the tool is physically large so it not good for detailed work.

The tools are great! The service from Amazon is by far the worst you will ever experience in YOUR LIFE!!! AMAZON STILL OWES ME OVER $500.00 and if I cannot get it back to my credit card I will have to sew the company!

the only downside is that a part of the motor fell of and stopped the fan. So when i was drilling, it got really hot and overheated. The motor wouldnt turn after that.

I just got this drill a few days ago and I am thoroughly impressed with it. We just bought a house, and after just a few days I can tell it was a wise investment. There are plenty of cheaper 7.2v drills, but in my opinion a DeWalt is worth the money.

I had one of these for about a year. I own lots of Dewalt cordless tools, and have been generally very happy with them. I use the heck out of my standard 12v drill, so this right-angle drill seemed like a natural addition. I found the body to be pretty large and clumsy, which kind of defeats the idea of getting something for working in confined spots. Because it was hard to hold and manipulate, I had a hard time driving screws without slipping the bit out of the head frequently. After a while, I just gave up on using this and found other ways to get the work done. (If you're interested, I have used a Milwaukee corded "close quarters" drill and really like it.)

I got this on closeout at a local home center for a steal. Didn't think I would really use it much but I now find myself using it all the time. Great for small or awkward spaces. Good battery life. Fits well and balances nicely in the hand. It's pricey but very handy.

Nice functionality on drill and hammer function.
Lots of torque and battery life is remarkable.
I am right-handed and have large hands which means that I have to use care to fully depress "forward" button when changing from "reverse" to "forward" (it is a little awkwardly positioned). I did have difficulty engaging the hammer function one time, which sorted itself out after switching from "forward" to "reverse" and back again...

The saw is a dream with regards to weight, balance and power.
It does however, as everyone says, use up the batteries quite quickly (more than 4 long diagonal cuts of a 2x10 will kill a battery). But remember, it isn't expected to compete with a normal AC power tool...

I would recommend that Dewalt sell this kit with one of the normal heavy duty 18V batteries and one of the extra heavy duty batteries to make the kit even better.

This is an excellent combo with more power than most people will need for the job. The drill is the heart of the deal with the drill alone retailing for only $100 less than this kit. It has 450 inch-pounds of torque, which is enough to ripe the head off an unsuspecting dry-wall screw (this is great! nice power). The chuck and grip are well designed. If these tools have a draw back it would be the price (a bit on the high side) and weight (there are not light...which feels good, but what about the end of the day?), but ultimately these tools are comfortable, powerful, and really loveable.

I didn't want a heavier drill so I got this one especially because it had a 1/2" chuck. It is nice and light as you would expect of a 12 volt. The test was going to be how much torgue it had. I used it for a project requiring running 1-1/4, 2 and 3" screws into wood studs. The drill did not hesitate and ran the screws in better than I had figured. You can tell this is a professional drill. I only have it for a few weeks so this review doesn't address long term use. Also, it is interesting how Panasonic and Makita are going to what is supposed to be the better NiMh batteries instead of the NiCd batteries which this drill has. The plastic exterior of the drill seems a little cheap but overall good.

Bought 2 batteries with this drill. Drill is super, great, powerful, reliable. BUT, one of the 2 batteries never did hold a charge for long. NOW, I can't locate another to replace it! What's with Hitachi??

For the price, this 12-volt cordless drill by Hitachi cannot be matched. It is reliable, durable, lightweight, comfortable in its use, and the battery life is well above average.

I am a professional auto mechanic, and use it on a daily basis as a light-duty electric nut driver. My only criticism is that the self-locking chuck is too quick to release when challenged by the laws of physics...which was easily cured by an extra twist with a pair of channel locks.

I use an 18-volt Ryobi for most of my home projects, and the 12-volt Hitachi is a far superior tool, and at considerably less expense - more compact, superior battery life, and lighter weight give it a clear advantage over the heavier, bulkier Ryobi.

This tool is a must for non-professional home-improvement types, and professionals may be surprised by the overall versatility and usability of this tool.

Weight and price lured me to this drill. I work in a cabinet shop and found the 18 volt yellow and 14.4 volt red drills the other blokes had a bit bulky and heavy for all-day use (plus, I have access to their drills and our electric ones, as well). For screw and glue assembly this drill is a gem--it delivers just enough torque to sink everything home and won't break the heads off coarse drywall screws. Pre-drilling / Countersinking operations take a little longer than with more powerful models (and since time is money, I often keep a second, more powerful drill handy for the pre-drilling. I've drilled pocket holes with this Hitachi from time to time, but prefer to use an electric drill (or a heavy cordless drill on a jobsite) with the Kreg jig. I've also drilled dowel holes in 1 3/4 Mahogany with this drill--not without some effort, though. The light weight and compact size of this drill have come in handy for all of us--several corners in a recent kitchen remodel could only be reached with this drill, not with the larger cordless units.

My purchase of this drill prompted one shop member to purchase an even lighter 9.6 volt yellow brand. Initial impressions are that the two are about equal. One disadvantage to the yellow 9.6 volt is that it cannot be stood upright on its base. Since each falls in the same price range, I'd recommend the Hitachi for this one reason.

Battery expenditure is fairly frequent, and perhaps a negative for some reviewers / readers. But keeping the spare in the charger has never left me without juice. Just remember to take the charger to the job site!

I can't comment yet on the longevity of the batteries (still going strong after a year of daily use). When they do finally die, I'll be able to get two for 70 bucks by purchasing another drill! (not bad, since some brands charge 70 bucks for one battery alone). Also worth noting is that Hitachi makes a 12 volt hammer drill that uses the same batteries.

I really don't use the flashlight, but it is nifty in that the head angles and it is free-standing. Rather, I use the flashlight's space in the case for bits and so on The case, by the way, is not as rugged as other brands (especially the sliding hinges). My assumption is that Hitachi has eliminated the frills of a great case to keep the price low.

For the price and performance, this little Hitachi is a great buy. It probably all a home do-it-yourselfer needs, and again, it works for 90% of the jobs in the shop. It has taken some abuse and suffered some job site falls, but has not been damaged. Yes, eventually, I will be buying a second, heavier duty drill--probably the red 14.4 workhorse (now that it has been beefed up to well over 400 lbs. of torque), but a second drill will simply complement, not retire this drill. I highly recommend this little Hitachi.