Been happy with Hitachi, has coped with long idle periods followed by short burst of moderate to heavy use. In my experience this is the worst type of use for longevity of batteries. Used to use panasonic all day everyday and was awesome, but thats going back 13 years so probably irrelevant.

Panasonic. I've been using them for 10 years and they outlast marital, dewAlt and hitachi by a long shot. Milwaukee are ok but generally bulky

240 volts ...........way to go !!!!

Ryobi one... You can get four for the price of one expensive tool and two ryobi tools will last as long as the expensive one

Always been a makita fan, but IMO they dropped in quality a few years back, I've since been on hitachi, I flog my tools and for me I'm converted , hitachi actually do most research and parts production then sell it on, it's their prime income, however makita a latest premium range looks feels and performs as good, remember they have budget and high end models

Ozito 12V .............. but power it up with GMC 14V batteries.

Wanga F One said...
Milwaukee
Panasonic also good longevity.

Panasonic were the first to use quality batteries. Milwaukee are my choice but as mentioned - bulky and heavy (I can live with that for a quality product). I was told that the new Makita had more grunt than Milwaukee but obviously less weight?

Those that suggest 'cheapies', it's a PITA when your tools fail during a job and as a tradie - there's an element of pride in having tools for a long time.

My pick of 'cheapies' would be 'Worx' - I bought 5 battery drills to use in my joinery business and they all handled the abuse well with 3 if them lasting >3 years. Festool are very good if you want precision and dust extraction, but after having 2 of their drills fail within a month after the warranty ran out (and their service dept telling me that 2 years is good for a drill so "bad luck") I went for another brand.

Ive had panasonic & hitachi but i use makita now have for about 10years . Yes sometimes I'm a little disappointed with the battery life but thats been the case with all brands .
Ryobi are now only sold at bunnings i do believe.So you can get the lowest price guaranty because nobody else sells them
Im pretty hard on tools .
Panasonic fell apart& bulky
Brand new Hitachi broke when drill fell off my nail bag got told thats not covered by warranty.
Dropped makita 3 storys didn't miss a beat
Massive range of tools & you can get them everywhere plus parts so thats my choice now . the weight factor is important to me as i have to carry all my tools on nailbag all day.
My question is what are people doing with there old batteries ?

SandS said...


240 volts ...........way to go !!!!

Let me guess, you thought that the automobile was satins work and would never replace the horse as primary transport.

Davage said..
Need a new battery drill and recipro saw. Replacing Makita which i havent been happy with. Yes im hard on them. What are you using and how hard do you push it?

Hitachi

actiomax said..
Ive had panasonic & hitachi but i use makita now have for about 10years . Yes sometimes I'm a little disappointed with the battery life but thats been the case with all brands .
Ryobi are now only sold at bunnings i do believe.So you can get the lowest price guaranty because nobody else sells them
Im pretty hard on tools .
Panasonic fell apart& bulky
Brand new Hitachi broke when drill fell off my nail bag got told thats not covered by warranty.
Dropped makita 3 storys didn't miss a beat
Massive range of tools & you can get them everywhere plus parts so thats my choice now . the weight factor is important to me as i have to carry all my tools on nailbag all day.
My question is what are people doing with there old batteries ?

Old batteries can be pulled apart. The individual cells are tested and duds replaced. Sometimes it is the onboard electronics that give up. I recombine cells to make larger capacity packs for other projects. Where possible I match cells of same internal resistance(means they all discharge the same rate and not at staggered times)

I've had panosonic batteries for six years
Still going strong
All day every day
Drill and impact driver 6 yrs
Been thru 2 saws
3 grinders
Saw is perfect for roofers cutting battens
Grinders ok
Drills the best

Just bought a bosch 18v grinder
Almost like electric
Would by the saw and drills when panosonic die
Only thing is bosch are a bit bigger and heavier

Makita - never
Been thru a few hitachi kits
Panosonic have been great
Just wish they brought out a radio
My bosch boom box is the bomb
But to bloody heavy

If it's a brand they sell at bunnings it's not for a tradesman. They force the brand to go cheap and quality suffers

I've had hitachi 18 v range for a long time,

DunkO said..
For work sites it's now a requirement to use battery, oh&s. Trip and electrical hazards

Cords are a pain, decent 18v+ is usually as good

i don't believe that , you are trying to tell people that , construction sites have required you to use batt tools instead of 240 volt power !!!!!! no way it will never happen !!!!

i,m saying ......crap alert !!!

Are you a tradesman?