jonathan18:

I saw that Dewalt pack in my local Bunnings (it's frustrating that so many of their products are missing from their website!), and agree it looked a good deal; what's made me wary is what I've been told and read about the claimed declining quality of Dewalt products.

At that price, it's not a lot more than a B&D, which makes me concerned the Dewalt is a repackaged B&D unit as opposed to being a prosumer drill, which is what people have typically expected from the brand.

Has anyone experience with the entry-level Dewalt drills?

Fred99:

 

jonathan18:

 

Adamww: (cut)

 

Also at bunnings at the moment is a Dewalt 18V 2 piece set - drill+ impact driver + 2 batts and charger for either $249 or $259 (cant remember) - pretty hard to beat...  Its not on their website but I have seen them on display for the last month or so and thought it was a deal.

 

 

I saw that Dewalt pack in my local Bunnings (it's frustrating that so many of their products are missing from their website!), and agree it looked a good deal; what's made me wary is what I've been told and read about the claimed declining quality of Dewalt products.

 

At that price, it's not a lot more than a B&D, which makes me concerned the Dewalt is a repackaged B&D unit as opposed to being a prosumer drill, which is what people have typically expected from the brand.

 

Has anyone experience with the entry-level Dewalt drills?

 

 

 Link?  All I could find was this in Aussie - which is a very good deal.

 

Possible I suppose that some old non-brushless models are being sold off. 

 

Note that the pro range of tools (ie DeWalt vs B&D, Milwaukee vs Ryobi, Makita vs Maktec, Bosch blue vs green etc) usually come with extended trade-use warranties, CGA does not cover trade/business use.  The Ozito tools usually have tags on them stating "not suitable for trade use" or similar. That said, some of the Ozito stuff seems to be very ruggedly made (and some of it is awful) and it's very cheap.

 

As for DeWalt cordless drills, I had a 10.8v drill/driver combo which was excellent quality, despite being conventional motor and only 10.8V (called 12V by other makers and by DeWalt for US market) it probably exceeded what most home DIY folks need, also very light-weight, easy to handle and rugged.  Other benefit was that when I did need cordless tools with more grunt (18v), the DeWalt kit was very easy to sell on TM for a reasonable price.

 

As we mentioned above, the NZ Bunnings site doesn't have the Dewalt package listed (among many other drills); agree that Aus link is a good deal, but I'm pretty sure it's not the same one I saw here, as I'm sure this was a standard motor, not brushless (so your point about getting rid of older stock may well be true). Thus far in NZ it appears there's a significant premium to pay for drills with brushless motors, and so none of the better-value sets have these.

I'll go take another good look at the options at Bunnings, which have a much better range than Mitre 10; will check out the Ozito tools properly, and this Dewalt package. I still am drawn to the AEG set, partly due to the warranty but also the inclusion of a light, which we need anyway.

Thanks again for all the feedback, everyone; as usual, it's been really helpful.

BTR:

 

 

Cheers for the idea! I've got one of these already - belonged to my grandfather I believe. It does meet the requirements of being cordless, and even better there's no chance of the battery going flat...

Dewalts entry drills are fine, it really depends on what you are doing if your drilling holes through joists then having a power drill is always a good buy, or if you are doing basic diy then they are fine. I have a makita cant beat it always go for blue ones as better quality than  green not at all expensive use it for renovations , dog runs to putting curtain rails up

http://www.bunnings.co.nz/makita-18v-li-ion-hammer-drill_p00251265

Milwaukee is best. End of story.

1) Great quality product, long lasting
2) Cheap batteries
3) M18 Power source means you can use your drill battery to power a usb device such as recharging your cellphone
4) Batteries can be used in the Milwaukee heated jacket which is a great jacket on its own but just freaking awesome with the battery running its built in heater which lasts about 12 hours on a single charge.

raytaylor:

 

Milwaukee is best. End of story.

 

... maybe true, but completely unhelpful to assist with my original query!

To quote the second para of the initial post:

jonathan18:

 

My budget could make it to $400 for the two-tool set, and I'd stretch to no more than $600 if it included further useful tools. Given this is for just general home handy(or not-so-handy)man stuff, I don't need the latest and greatest Milwaukee or Makita, but I also want something that'll last the distance both in use and in longevity.