I was looking for something cheap as my first drill. From checking many different stores and drills, this was the best choice for the money. I used this successfully for installing 3 over-the-range microwaves. I bought large Irwin drill bits to cut big holes through drywall and cabinetry, and this drill performed fine. This also
saves you a ton of time having to use a screwdriver to assemble something.
FYI: The 20 accessories that come with this drill are drill bits and screwdriver bits. They are of good quality and that alone saves you some $10-$15 bucks from having to buy it separately with another drill.
This is not a hammer drill so you will not be able to drill through concrete or other strong material. Some places of drywall was difficult for me to drill through, but with maximum drill power and forward-force I was able to make it through.
The battery lasts well for me, one thing that is good is to keep charging it in between working, or while you are taking 30mins for a lunch break. It held its charge for over 2 weeks when I had it in storage between uses.
One suggestion is to have some kind of indicator to let you know when it's fully charged. There are no lights whatsoever to tell you it's charging or it's got a charge. But if you do it like me and plug it in the night before working then you're fine.
Again, for $50 bucks shipped you can't beat this drill. If you're looking for the best then go for DeWalt, but if you need something around the house, or maybe helping out a neighbor install whatever, this is an excellent choice. Black & Decker CDC180ASB 18-volt Compact Drill with 20 Accessories
This tool is, for the money, one of the best values around. Don't go to Home Depot and buy a Ryobi 12 volt. This tool has 10 more inch/pounds of torque, 100 more rpm's of speed, and it's actually made by Black and Decker. The Ryobi's are made by Techtronic, which is obviously NOT Ryobi of Japan. Not knocking Ryobi of Japan, of course. Those are DIFFERENT tools altogether. The closest real competitor would be a craftsman, which is more expensive, and barring Craftsman Professional, no more product for the money. Feels solid and backed by a great home use warranty of two years. MUST HAVE !!!
I picked this up for $40 on sale in a local store. It's adequate for most tasks, but no better.
The battery can only be charged when it's plugged into the drill, so you can't alternate between two to keep working. It doesn't have a variable speed setting, so controlling the speed when driving screws is hard. The battery capacity seems small, plus there's no charge level indicator on the device or charger, so you don't know when it's fully recharged. Finally, the RPM is very low compared to equivalents--getting through steel is going to take you a while.
If you can get it on sale for a reasonable price, and don't want to do too many adventurous things with a power drill, consider giving it a look.
This is a very good drill/driver for occasional home use. The driver function is very good, I expected a little more from the drill, which is a little slow considering the power of this machine, and if you are going to use this drill for long periods, you will find it a little bit heavy. But overall, it works great for occasional use. Also, considering it is cordless, makes both for drill and drive, comes with all the accessories you will need for occasional use (drill and drive bits) and it comes with a carrying bag... put all this into account and you have a great value for you money.
I used this drill a few days ago to bore holes for a handsome piece of black locust root that I was mounting as a found sculpture on a mahogany base. It worked well both in drilling the mahogany and the locust, and in driving screws using the excellent fully adjustable torque which is one of the features of this drill.
It comes in a handsome carrying case with a handle and an assortment of drill and screw bits. It was relatively inexpensive. A good buy and a good tool.
JS
Regardless of what specs the drill has, what it doesn't say in the description is that you have to plug the recharging plug directly into the drill handle to charge the battery. Therefore, there is no way to have a second battery charging while you continue to use the drill since there is no separate charging station. Omitting this from the description is not enough to avoid responsibility for the obvious disadvantage of this drill. The package says that the battery is easily removable which implies it can be swapped for a fully charged battery. There are no pictures that show the hole in the back of the handle that the charger has to plug into. A truly stupid system. They should forget about the extras they include and just make a charging station for it like most other 12 volt drills.
It may be 18v, but it has nowhere near the power of my old Black & Decker 18v drill. The a/c adapter is also a fraction of the size, which makes me wonder. Build quality seems on par.
After shopping to replace my old one, I came home with a sears craftsman C3 19.2v ($90) and this B&D 18v model. The difference is like night and day. While at Sears, I also tried the Dewalt 18v drills which even more powerful than the craftsman. You can feel the torque on these yanking the unit in your hand; you cannot feel anything on this B&D.
Obviously, the voltage rating is not a good indicator of performance. Frustratingly, price is turning out to be a better indicator.
I asked for this particular drill (battery powered) for Christmas - and got it :-) I have several Black & Decker items and am pleased with all of them. Jig saw, two electric drills, weed whacker, tiller, small work bench, wall paper steamer (yes, B&D doesn't make them anymore, but I loved my original one that I had for 20 years, which finally gave out after many hours of use not only by me, but also by some of my office colleagues. But I found a "brand-new/old" one, never used, on e-bay.) Some of those tools might not be suitable for a professional handyman, but for a do-it-yourself woman (or some of the more clumsy, helpless do-it-yourself men!), they are wonderful, reliable products. - Black And Decker - Power Tools - Drill - Cordless Tools'
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