Lithium Ion Baby

[gafftaper]

I just spotted Lithium Ion powered Cordlesss drills at Lowes and Home Depot in the last couple days. They have been out for a while but only in the big combo kits, now they are in the single drill sales. They are SO COOL!!

An entire 18 Volt drill and battery weighs about the same as my old 12 Volt cordless. No memory effect. Much more power that lasts longer. SWEET!!

Lowes has a 18 Volt Hitachi that comes with a free MP3 player for $190. Home Depot has an 18 Volt Makita for $199.

Check them out next time you're at the store.

[DarSax]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

18 Volt Hitachi that comes with a free MP3 player

Wait....what?


And though I don't know if they're Lith/Ion (probably), the new Makitas are pretty much amazing, smaller, more ergonomic, pretty amazing.

[gafftaper]

Yeah free MP3 player... weird huh?
You'll know if it's a lithium Ion, instead of the usual brick, the battery is about 3/4 of an inch thick (maybe less).

The Makita website says:
-The 18 volt weighs 3.5 pounds WITH the battery.
-Nearly double the battery power
-Nearly double the battery recharge cycles
-15 minute recharge
-only 8 inches long
-maintains a charge in storage 5 times longer
-built in LED light to shine on your work
-450 pounds of torque

and it looks cool too...


but sadly it doesn't come with an MP3 player

[Hughesie]

a light actually on the drill

that's a great idea for screwing things under the set!!!!!!!!!!

i want one

[len]

If you can wait, I think you'll see a rash of these for under $100 at Father's Day, which is in June. And if not then, it will happen by Christmas.

[avkid]

Gotta love the Makita. I'm using a 15 year old 9.6V that I inherited when my grandfather died. If he had one you know had to be good, he was a precision machinist and foreman for 40 years.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by len

If you can wait, I think you'll see a rash of these for under $100 at Father's Day, which is in June. And if not then, it will happen by Christmas.

Great point. The Lithium Ion's have been out in the expensive combo kit's for a while from the top manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised to see the cheaper brands like Black and Decker and Craftsman in the market soon bringing the price down. Although $150-$200 is the normal price range for Makita products so I doubt they will drop much in price.

[gafftaper]

Just saw a Black and Decker Lithium Ion for $90 at Home Depot... not nearly as nice as the Makita, but still better than most of the things out there.

[norwintd]

hi guys
I have one of the black and white makitas and they are awesome battery life could be longer but at 15 minutes a charge i have never run one down before the next one is ready. I have used it through two show builds and would not trade it for anything. Its light and powerful and the little LED is very very handy

[DarSax]

Aw, what about the trademark Makita green/black? I love those colors, when I saw the black/white I was muchachos dissapointed (unless they came out with a glow in the dark/black version. Can someone say, bad-ass?)