which should I buy 18v ridgid or the panasonic

[primokona]

Im about to climb up a tall building and toss my dewalt 18v kit out the window..

its a peice of #@#$...

Battery life is horrible...bla bla bla you know the rest..

I have a builder who refered me to the 18v panasonic said its battery life was awsome and had great torque..

But I have a freind who just bought the ridgid 18v drill to replace (you know it)the dewalt he had and he loves it...
Said ridgid is offering a lifetime warranty if bought before 1/1/2004

In comparison with the 2 drills the panasonic has ni-mh battery and the Ridgid has a nicad battery.

Not sure where the advantage is there?
but will do more research.


any help with the comparison would be greatly appreciated..

cause I would like to purchase a kit soon

Thank you


great forum

primo

[steb]

I was also looking at the Panasonic,but have read in a review that it got a liitle hot in high torque situations ( tho I really like that 3.5 amp metal hydride battery) so I went with the ridgid 18volt x2. I would say the Panasonic battery is superior to the ridgid, but the Ridgid drill itself is superior to the Panansonic. The 30 minute charger helps even out the battery comparison, and of course the Ridgid drill will always be a better drill

[mr man]

metal hydride batterys are great for driving wood screws or whatever, but when you get into high torque applications and start pulling amps from the battery, it heats up quick from the high internal resistance that they have, killing its life.
So I guess you could look at that, depending on what your going to do with it. Remember the ridgid drills have the quick charge times, and the X2s will charge 2 batterys at once. The motors on the Ridgid drills were tweaked to be very efficient at battery use.

[primokona]

Thanks for the reply guys...

really appreciate it...

I own a custom electronics company(home theater,security, etc..)

And my old piece of #$# dewalt just doesnt cut it.

Sounds like the Ridgid is going to be my choice thanks to this forum...

thanks again...

primo

[jon]

panasonic is a well made drill. all the cordless drills (well all the major brands have 15 min. quick chargers. milw. has a multy bay charger as well). and for the motor being tweaked as mr.man said to perserve battery life thats very sceptical to me. but if there going to swap out the drill any time it breaks and give you new batters too,buy it before the new year.

[Lodge]

The Panasonic name sends shivers down my spine. While I will qualify my answer with the admission that I have had no experience with Panasonic drills, I do some Panasonic electronics and I will not own another item with Panasonic on it. My 2.4ghz Extreme phone is the biggest piece of crap on this earth. It is out of range when I am six inches from the base. I also have a CD player in my car that seems to have a mind of its own. Sorry for the rant, but I have a deep personal dislike for Panasonic.

[spacebluesonoma]

ever looked at Hilti? i bought an SF-121A and this is an INCREDIBLE tool. LONG battery life, awesome torque, etc. yeah it is only 12V but when i was looking i compared it to some of the 14 and 18V on the market....needless to say it won and i love it!

[HD Supporter]

The choice is simple. I have the RIDGID 18v 1/2" drill/driver and wouldn't trade it for 2 DeWalt Drills. I can't judge the Panasonic beacause I have never used one, but it sounds like something from Kmart. Buy the Ridgid and get a lifetime warranty on everything and if you don't like it bring it back within the 90 day trial period.

[exUsairwaysmech]

I am not familar with Hilti's cordless drill but I do know that HD rents out a lot of Hilti demo hammers.I am willing to give the corded,Metabo made Ridgid tools a try but I just cannot justify the price of the Ridgid(Chinese made) cordless drills.

If I am going to go for a high quality Chinese made product the price had better be significantly lower than the comparable Milwaukee product.For example,Lowe's sells a Hitachi 14.4V cordless drill and flashlight combo with case for $89.00 with a 5 year "professional warranty"(whatever that means).

[jon]

hitachi is a japan tool made in japan and is a vrey good tool. if you want a cordless you should look at metabo, panasonic, or milw, all top of the line. dewalt is so so . in a week i fix any where between 10 to 20 dewalt. bosch is so so. ridgid is well i just dont know (china made). makita prettygood, and hilti very good. you have alot of choices out there and if your going to use it all the time then chose wisely.