Cordless drill advice

[Diver Fred]

I have Makita, a cheapy from Macro, Hitachi, and Ryobi; obtained in that order.
The Makita is plastic bodied including the gearbox and clutch - was supplied by employer when employed mechanically good, needed a new switch and the NiCad battery has been recelled (with cheep cheep cells and is no better than original cells when they died). When charged works like new.
Cheapy from Macro still works, battery stack is original and still holds charge, was bought as a hammer drill for drilling small holes (for wall/rawl plugs).
Hitachi is non-professional 18v NiCad, it's done lots of work, 2 out of 3 supplied batteries are beyond useful capacity and working life. will replace a battery when necessary - wondering if I can go to Li-Ion battery pack.
The Ryobi drill is years old - obtained from 'Freecycle' as I have an Impact Driver from Ryobi with same battery pack (One+). Does the job.

If I replace or buy new I'd probably go for Ryobi mainly cause of the battery system rather than anything else. Non-Original batteries (pattern) batteries are about third to half price of Ryobi ones and look to be indentical to OEM with the OEM lable.

So if I wasn't tied to that system then I'd go for Hitachi (non-professional). Just bought one for my cousin ahd they are pleased with theirs.
Other makes worthwhile looking at any of the big names or Erbauer (Screwfix). with any Li-Ion battery pack except about 500 charges before they require replacement.

 

[chappers]

500 charges that's probably about 10+ years worth for me or 20-30 years for a DIYer

 

[jonnyw]

Given all the replies (thanks), I'm wondering now whether it would be best to get a corded drill for now that can be my go-to, which should hopefully last. Then if/when I have any projects that will require a lot of drilling/screwing, I could look to buy a cordless drill then specifically to do the job.

People have mentioned budget, and I have no idea. I'm happy to pay as much as a I need for a drill, and don't want to pay any more! There's no point in getting something really cheap that will break in a year or two, and no point getting something over-expensive which I'll never use to it's full capability.

With that in mind, I've found these two that I'm considering:

The Bosch PSB 650 RE Hammer Drill - which at £60 seems a fair price, has lots of good reviews and comes with case etc.

Also looking at Bosch Professional GSB 13 RE Corded 240 V Impact Drill - which is £64 (though would cost £80 with case), is 50W less powerful (at 600W), though is part of the professional range - so maybe this won't make much difference.

To be honest, I can't see much difference between the two. One is listed as hammer, the other impact (not sure if this makes any difference). One is professional (and has 50W less power). One is green, one is blue!

Any thoughts?

 

[jonnyw]

Ok so I've swung round and am considering a cordless again!

Any thoughts on this Bosch PSB 1800 LI-2 cordless (or it's specs).

It seems to have around 1,600 positive reviews, though on the downside only comes with 1.5 Ah batteries (though the fact it comes with two, and apparently one takes 60 mins for full charge) should I guess get around this.

Replacement batteries seem to cost £30 (1.5 Ah) and £32 (2.0 Ah). I guess I could perhaps justify buying one more after 5 years to try to drag another 5 years use out this (and with a total cost of £70 + £30 for a single replacement battery would make the cost of ownership £10/year over 10 years - which I can accept).

What I'm unsure is how the 18v cordless would compare in drilling capability, against say the 650W Bosch? Are there any significant power differences?

Would both be able to do wood, plaster, walls, drive screws into fences etc?

Is there anything one could do, that the other can't (other than the obvious that one can be used cordless)?

 

[big-all]

that amazon link shows two batteries being cheaper than one?>?

batteries deteriorate with time if used or not so you would need to buy another battery in 5 years to work to your time span if they are still available
and batteries loose perhaps between 15 and 35% off there capacity every year so a 2year old battery may have virtually no life in it or perhaps 75% if you are really lucky
it all depends on battery quality use storage and charging regime
have a look at ryobi they have over 50 tools for the same batteries for the home and garden
http://www.diy.com/departments/ryob...-drill-2-batteries-llcdi18ll40s/546421_BQ.prd
https://uk.ryobitools.eu/one/#!#full-range