Hitachi Reviews

I bought this one to replace a $40 Ryobi model from the Home Depot, and I thought it would be an upgrade. This turns out to be not true. As another reviewer said, the orbit is truly random, and sometimes veers off of your work with no warning. It has good power, but is difficult to control.

The dust bag is useless, and doesn't do nearly as good of a job at the Ryobi did. I am going to return it and hope that Makita can make a better product...

This is my third random orbit sander in the last 3-4 years and it replaces a smooth operating but poorly made Porter Cable 333. The positive aspects of the Hitachi are that it is very agressive, has good power, and the dust collection seems to work fine. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to control when the pad is flat on the sanding surface and tends to veer out of control in whatever direction the orbit takes it. In addition, the top of the sander is very large which makes it uncomfortable to hold and probably adds to the control issue. The Porter Cable clearly led the way in sanding quality and smoothness. All in all, the Hitachi just doesn't provide the blend of aggressiveness and finesse that I desire for my woodworking needs.

i found this tool on sale at a local store. being a very satified owner of the makita 12v impact driver, i made sure i could return the tool if it didn't measure up.
got it home, charged it up and went to work. the tool felt great in my hand and really performed well. i was thrilled with my new toy when the battery began to croak while driving the 15th 3" screw into a soft pine log. i chalked it up to the brand new battery being not charged fully. i decided to do a side-by-side comparison. i charged my five year old makita 12v impact driver and my new hitachi. i ran three inch scews into pine logs. the makita was dead after 16 screws. the old makita burried 42!
i hope hitachi can rectify this problem because this tool feels great and performs well when the batteries are fresh. if the battery doesn't improve, they need to include two chargers and four batteries.

Lowe's had these on clearance for about 1/4 off, so I got one. I own a lot of Hitachi tools and this driver is of the usual good construction. It's rated at 700 inch# versus 1000 plus for the top end drivers. The battery is shorter than their 2.0 amp hour 12v battery and amphours are not stated. The batteries weigh 17 ozs versus 23.5 for the 2.0, and length of run is roughly proportional. The batteries interchange with the old and new 2.0's. Total tool weight with small battery is 57.5 ozs. The driver sinks 3" #8 screws into dry doug fir no problem. 5" #12 screws slowed it down somewhat. I would recommend this driver for lighter applications like screws, but not for heavier apps like bolts.

I was hoping to find this item with either a lower price for its torque or higher torque for its price.

1036.8 in-lbs. (86.4 ft-lbs.) is respectable. (compare to Makita 6918DWD).

I purchased 4 of these cordless impacts every single one started smoking or burned out after 1 week of use. This tool is garbage.

I bought this impact over a month ago but I waited untill now to write the reveiw because I wanted to give it a REAL long term test. I almost didn't buy it because of the other guys reveiw, but am VERY happy now that I did.. Having already owned an 18v Dewalt drill and an 18v hitachi drill, an 18 volt Dewalt Sawsall and an 18v Hitachi Sawsall, I expected great things from this little impact and I wasn't diapointed,, I own 3 other impacts, a 9.6 makita, a 14.4 Dewalt and a 18v dewalt, none of these even come close to the HITACHIs power, I have used it at least 1 hour every day for the last month, the 3.0 NI-hM batteries are Super. We added a room to the Garage and used nothing but 4" long deck screws, this thing had so much POWER it hardly had to impact to sink them out of sight.
I have owned my dewalt impacts for years and always LOVED them but they seem a little outdated when compared to the HITACHI. it has lots more power and a smaller size, and a more comfortable handle, The lugs on my Skid Steer torque on 100ft lbs and it doest even strain this thing to take them off and torque them right back to specs. i would have gave it 4 1/2 stars if possible because of 1 thing, the socket holder wouldn't hold on large sockets like a Deepwell 1" or so, but it was an easy fix, I just took the little rubber plug out that holds the ball out against the sockets and put a peice of 10 guage wire insulation over it. now you have to want a socket off to get it off,,
J.R.

I purchased (2) boxes of these nails to use with (2) brand New Stanley Bostich RN45-B1 Coil roofing guns. Used them on a small job (10x16 shed roof) and experienced consistent jams. On a larger job we used both (NEW) guns with one using the sequential tip trigger and the other using the contact tip. We both experienced jams on a regular basis. Fortunately the RN45 is easy to clear a jam but it became quite frustrating on a roof in Texas in 100 degree weather putting up 38 squares of roofing material.

Item is genuine Hitachi staples. Product was received in a few days but there was minimal packaging and the staple box broke inside the cardboard box and I recieved 5000 staples, of which about 30 were broken, covering the bottom of the larger shipping box. They need to tape the Hitachi box, minimum. It's going back.

I ordered this set from Amazon , to my surprise set is made in China . Set appears to be of the low quality - half of the bits have spots that are not covered with green oxide . Oxide treatment prevents overheating and increases bit life . Because some bits have spots in the middle I don't expect them to work for long time . Case is build well , however its to large for 15 bits . I think they use same case for bigger sets . Overall, bits performing well , however below expectaions . Dewalt oxide covering does not have missed spots and more uniform

I used this nailer for nailing prefinished cherry crown molding. The metal tip tends to put a mark in the wood. The metal tip makes it hard to secure the nailer to the curve part of the crown molding. The tip will sometime slide across the wood as I try to position the nailer. This ends up scratching the wood. The nailer tends to gouge the wood if not shot perpendicular to the wood. This could be an issue if you were using it on something that can be inspected closely. If this nailer had a ruber tip, I would probably give it 5 stars. The nailer sinks the brads nicely, and the depth is easy to adjust. The weight and balance is also nice. It's a quality tool with one fatal flaw. I really wanted to like this nailer, but will probably return it.

I would never buy another one of these drills. This was a waste of time and money.

I ordered this drill as a Christmas present. My husband had requested this particular drill. When it arrived, the mechanism was faulty (so much for "factory reconditioned"). It was a pain to have to mail it back to Amazon (although Amazon made it as easy as possible, did not charge postage and notified me when they credited my charge card).

I would NOT purchase this item (at any price).

The drill I received was not the one pictured. It also did not work. The forward/reverse/off switch was broken. I returned it. Even if the switch had worked, I was not happy with the quality of the drill. It looked cheap.

I bought one, tried to drill a 5/16" hole (half the rated capacity) in concrete with a new masonry bit and smoked the bit. The drill is too fast, even on it's lowest speed to effectively drill holes in concrete, maybe concrete blocks, but not concrete. I took it back 20 minutes after trying to use it. I have other Hitachi products that I am happy with, but not this one. If you want a hammer drill, keep looking, this isn't one...

I bought this drill to replace a 3/8" Skil that was 20 years old. I used it for thinset and grout mix it smelled like it was burning but, worked fine no problems. I then used it to drill 1" holes in poured concrete. It lasted for only 8 holes the bits kept coming out of the drill no matter how hard I tightened the chuck. Then on the 8th hole it started smoking and died (brushes are shot). This is labeled a heavy duty hammer drill. I think not. I don't suggest this for anyone who uses a drill alot.

I've had this drill for two weeks and it does the job fine for me (around the house). It drills through wood and plastic with no problem what-so-ever (maybe the guy who had the drill die while drilling through a 2x4 had a defective product). It eats concrete block with no problem (A friend and I have drilled maybe 20 holes in block) and I even used it on poured concrete. It took maybe 10-15 seconds to drill an 1 1/2 inch deep hole, but I wasn't expecting anything better.

One of the best tips I've heard re: power tools is to let the tool work for you. I didn't "get into it" and apply all 210 lbs of me into the drill. ON the concrete, relax, put it on a low setting, and apply modest pressure. The tool, the bit and you will benefit.

Overall, for around the house and for the money, this drill is perfect.