Drill for £50 - £60

[tomkear2006]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if you could advise me on a decent quality drill for around £50 - £60. I am looking to get one for my mum for xmas (strange gift I know - but thats what she wants).

She has bought a fair few in the past but they all keep dying and I would like to get her a decent quality one that is going to last a good few years.

No idea on which make to go for...Black & Decker and Bosch seem like a good place to start but I really don't know what I'm looking for.

Look forward to hearing some of you help and advise, thanks in advance,
Tom Lear.

 

[JohnD]

Corded or cordless?

Cordless have less power (especially the cheap ones) but can sometimes be more convenient. I am going to guess that she would prefer a fairly light corded one.

A typical DIY drill will be corded with percussion action (what we used to call hammer action, but apparently that term now means it has a pneumatic piston hammer). This will drill into walls e.g. for curtain rails as well as doing woodwork.

Which tested lots of drills in May 06 (you can read the full review at your library). The best buy in your price range was:

Makita HP1621
Price: £58
Score: 64 %
This percussion drill from Makita is a Best Buy. It's good on metal and for hammer drilling and is OK as a screwdriver.

It breezed through our endurance tests, which simulate ten years' DIY use, so is a good long-term investment.

A little more expensive, and a little better, was the Bosch PSB 650 RA at £70 (edited: the 650 RE is not as good)

Prices change but the other best buys were in the £120 - £150 range.

Some other drills were so bad that they were graded as"don't buy". These were:
Draper PT900K, Power Devil PDDRH1050, Black & Decker KD 960KC, McKeller MCKM 14, Skil 1760, Draper PT810V, Focus Basics, McKeller MCKM13, Power Devil PDD 3021 CA and Axminster AW 500 HD -
The JCB HD1010

 

[tomkear2006]

Wow, thanks for the speedy reply.

I believe a corded drill we do just fine and the lighter the better really, although it's not the most important factor (she's probably stronger than me )

I am looking into the Makita HP1621 as we speak but until I pay up I am open to any suggestions.

I did see one in Focus that looked good. It was a 710Watt Black & Decker...would that be enough of a description for you to advise whether it was a good or a bad choice? It was £49.99 which seemed very reasonable.

Thanks again

 

[JohnD]

I'd need the model number. There were no B&Ds among the best buys.

 

[tomkear2006]

I just bought the Makita from http://www.powertooldirect.co.uk/ for £52 including P&P.

Thanks for the advise and I hope she's pleased with it