The said:
Time will tell, but at least i dont have to charge it every time i use
it, and when it is charged i get more than 20 minutes use from it. And
it only takes one hour to charge when i do need to charge it.
How often does it get used?
Quite often, once a week on average I'd say.
For home I bought a Ryobi cordless for about $50, this was the lowest
cost one available before the $15 ones flooded the market a year or two
back.
It came with two NiCds and a crappy charger but it has been the most
reliable drill I have ever owned. It has been dropped a few times from
the top of a 7ft ladder onto concrete and has been filled with gyprock
dust many times over.
The stamina of the battery is quite good. I've used it to undrill and
redo hundreds of screws in a day with one charge. Torque wise it's
great, I've broken a few bits and locked up the drill many times, but
it handles it without issue.
Yes, the battery chargers are crap, if you leave them on you'll ruin
the battery. Something to watch.
Power boards are another thing i refuse to buy cheap. A decent one
will last, after a couple of dozen uses most cheap ones seem to refuse
to hold onto a plug. I suppose thats OK if it sits behind your
computer and never gets touched though.
We've had no problems with the $2.50 bunnings power boards. They get
treated attrociously in both production and lab environments without
issue.
One thing i learned when i was a tradesmen is not to buy cheap tools.
Whenever you need them they always fail on you.
Interesting, all the professional contractors I see at work have the
best tools money can buy, presumably because work was paying for them.
But with the individual contractors (who work for themslves) I get for
my home jobs, they all have the cheapest Ozito Bunnings tools. I asked
why once, and one guy said they are much better value, he could buy ten
Ozito's for the price of one top brand, and the top brands simply don't
last ten times as long. That means more $$$ in his pocket.
Dave