Cheap drills - better to go secondhand or new? Any specific recommendations?

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1101

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#2900329 12-Apr-2022 11:57

I have a Mako , from Bunnings , the older version of this
https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/mako-18v-cordless-drill-with-1.5ah-battery-and-charger/R2636245.html

Its good for average home use
It has more power than a 11year old could cope with
It has more than all the power I need from a plastic cordless
the plastic case couldnt cope with more power

These are sub $100 drills.
They are cheap.
They WILL NOT last 20 years (the batts will die before then)
Dont compare them to $200+ drills . They arnt the same thing .

I still have my expensive Hitachi I bought 25 years ago . I never use it anymore .
13mm chuck is a bonus on the Hitachi .
It has so much power I almost injured myself with it in the distant past (more than once)
Sometimes less is better
:-)

I also have a powerfull corded impact drill
I never use it anymore

I only ever use my cheap Mako cordless now.
It was the cheapest I could buy , at the time .

tchart

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#2900339 12-Apr-2022 12:25

1101:

I only ever use my cheap Mako cordless now.
It was the cheapest I could buy , at the time .

Agree. Missed the part where this was for an 11 year old. I used an 12V Ozito for years and years. They are only $66 from Bunnings. Would be fine for an 11 yo.

MikeAqua

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#2900342 12-Apr-2022 12:33

tchart:

MikeAqua:

Problem is, they are closed when I leave for work and when I get back. Highly inconsiderate.

Most Bunnings stores are now open from 6:30am to 9pm nowadays.

Ooooh! 6:30am is too late for me most days but 9pm could work. Must check that out. I think Bunnings are winning on customer experience. Better hours and their product finder app is really helpful.

Mike

neb

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#2900410 12-Apr-2022 14:58

JimmyH:
neb: They're actually more expensive than the PXC's when they're on special. Look out for the black-sided PXC batteries which are made to compete with Aldi batteries in Australia and cost about half the standard price when they're on sale, the internals are identical.

I haven't seen these in NZ, and wouldn't mind another couple of PXC batteries. Are they stocked at Bunnings too, or do you get them from somewhere else?

They're stocked at Bunnings, you just have to wait for them to turn up. Rule of thumb is they're half the price of the standard batteries, at the moment they've only got the standard one listed, the compete-with-Aldi is identical electronically but the red ribbed portion is black and it's half the price.

tchart

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#2900447 12-Apr-2022 15:44

neb: They're stocked at Bunnings, you just have to wait for them to turn up. Rule of thumb is they're half the price of the standard batteries, at the moment they've only got the standard one listed, the compete-with-Aldi is identical electronically but the red ribbed portion is black and it's half the price.

Slim pickings at the moment. Ive been after a 5.2A one but havent found one in Wellington.

Pays to keep an eye out at cash converters (or their Trademe stores) too - just check the manufacture date isnt too old.

neb

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#2900448 12-Apr-2022 15:48

tchart:
Slim pickings at the moment. Ive been after a 5.2A one but havent found one in Wellington.

There's a PXC thread on Whirlpool, the Australian equivalent of GZ, where people mention Aldi sales that trigger the appearance of the cheaper batteries at Bunnings. That seems to have a knock-on effect in NZ, they seem to appear here at some point after that.

Edited to add: Just out of curiosity I had a look at Einhell prices in Europe and they're pretty comparable to Ozito ones here, you're not saving much by getting the Einhells, you're looking at EUR 65 for the 5.2Ah battery which is only marginally less than you're paying here and then you lose the warranty if something goes wrong.

In terms of skin variety which came up earlier, once you've gone beyond the core set you're getting into either stuff that's a severe tradeoff of portability vs. utility for corded ones, i.e. where you're going to suck the battery dry way too quickly when you make it cordless (angle grinder, concrete cutter, table saw, floor/wall sander), or where they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel to find more things to add to the range - do we really need a nose-hair-trimmer skin? So skin range has never really been an issue for me.

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#2902161 13-Apr-2022 21:54

I bought one of these a while back when on special for $19.99

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/xu1-blue-18v-cordless-drill-driver-kit_p0091352

In retrospect, I should have bought a couple more as it is a great tool for most jobs. If I had 3 or more, I wouldn't even have to swap bits! For heavy work, I would use my corded 800W power or hammer drills, but for 99% of the jobs around the house, these are perfect. Light and powerful enough, while the battery last long and charges quickly.

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neb

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#2902462 14-Apr-2022 17:31

johno1234:
These look great value for a kid: https://www.topmaq.co.nz/nordic

They look like they might even be PXC compatible.

Just to avoid any future confusion over this, the Nordic batteries have very different connectors and aren't PXC/Einhell compatible.

Edited to add: I think the OP's confusion may have been because there's an Einhell Nordic, which is Einhell's unit that covers Scandinavia in the same way that Ozito covers Australasia. They're standard Einhell tools, not what Topmaq is selling.

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#2902655 15-Apr-2022 14:08

neb:
johno1234:

These look great value for a kid: https://www.topmaq.co.nz/nordic

They look like they might even be PXC compatible.

Just to avoid any future confusion over this, the Nordic batteries have very different connectors and aren't PXC/Einhell compatible.

Are they compatible with anything else out there or did they get their own totally unique inserts made for the tools to stop that happening like B&D did to stop pack sharing between their brands?

Richard rich.ms

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