[7Music7]

I had a Porter cable drill which finally died. When trying to find another in town I found that almost no one carried them.

(I also posted this in the Home builder forum, which had a few replies. I am posting here to get a wider viewing.)


Last week I picked up Two of the Milwaukee 14.4v 1/2" chuck drills. I liked the fact that for a 1/2" drill is was short and light, it also had a belt clip which I found convenient.


I took one of the two drills to Florida for a theater that we are working on. I had to drill holes through the studs for wiring. A fully charged battery would die after about ten minutes of drilling, then take about 60-90 minutes to recharge. I would use the second battery for the next ten minutes to continue drilling. Then I had to sit for another 50-80 minutes until I could drill again. This is an extreme waste of time.


After returning the drills to HD I spoke with a salesman and he recommended the Rigid drills. They are heavier and longer, both which I do not like, but the fast charging is nice. If I but before the end of the year the Rigid drill and batteries will have a lifetime warranty.


The HD salesman said that the Milwaukee could have had a bad charger or batteries. I never tried the second drill to see if the charge cycle was the same. Milwaukee has always been a good product, could I have just got a lemon?

 

[Tryg]

ok this is ridiculous

 

[JimmyR]

is this a campaign for Whole new and better AVS Hole topic forum ??


Cary ????

 

[7Music7]

Tryg,


Why is this ridiculous? You never had a general question to ask of the MANY users of the AVS forum? Sorry to take up a few seconds of your precious time in reading this post.




Actually, I just need a new drill and I would like some replies!!!

 

[chuckvb]

Well he did refer to a theator in his post

 

[WanMan]

There are a lot of topics in this particular chatroom that are not specific to Digital Hi-End Projectors - $3500 USD MSRP and Up. I just it was that no one took this chatroom seriously.

 

[Tryg]

buy three of em

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=44849


now lets talk about making digital projectors better than CRTs

 

[7Music7]

Tryg,


At least you have shown to me that you are not interested in really helping anyone. Rather than being an [email protected]&Hole why not just ignore the posts that you do not like and do us all a favor. P.S. - if Harbor Freight is your idea of a quality drill, all the power to ya!

 

[WanMan]

Yeah, because they ain't better than CRT's yet. Ha-Ha

 

[Tryg]

quality? get real.


I can destroy or loose a $200 drill just as fast as I can destroy a $36 dollar one.


You are probably one of these guys that think a $12,000 HD2+ is MUCH better than a $5000 HD2+


I suggest you go get a $400 drill. make sure you tip the salesman

 

[Big Damn Dave]

What is a theator? (Hey, if this was a simple typo, I'm just picking on you.) Why is the question regarding a drill ridiculous? Personally, I would like to know the answer to his question! There is nothing worse than the inability to complete a task in a timely manner because the batteries in battery powered tools die after only a short time. This becomes even more frustrating when the same batteries take an inordinate amount of time to charge! This is extremely pertinent when doing an elaborate prewire for a theater and/or a whole-home audio system. Good tools make a huge difference in how well (and how quickly) a job goes, and not everyone has the time to research every brand and model of tool out there. Relying on brand name recognition also doesn't cut it, either.


The man's question is valid for anyone who is installing a high end theater. Now I could be wrong, but I would guess that there would be a significant number of people who have installed theater systems. I would like to get some feedback on the drill question because I am interested in being able to save time. The more time I can save on a job, the more time I have to dedicate to other (income generating) tasks. I certainly do not find my income ridiculous, and the affect that a better set of tools can have on my income is certainly not ridiculous!


So, does anyone who has experience using a drill have some valid input regarding what to buy and why, or what to avoid? You're input is appreciated.

 

[7Music7]

You can "loose" a $200 drill. Did you mean lose? You ain't got no edumacation?


Let me guess, you buy all of your tools at the swap meet.

 

[Tryg]

Cary let me be more specific.


1. What does this have to do with projectors?

2. What are the differences in batteries from a $200 or a $36 dollar drill?


Answer: Nothing

 

[MrWigggles]

7music7,


Use the ignore feature of the forum. It is Tryg's kryptonite.


-Mr. Wigggles

 

[7Music7]

Tryg,


Correct on #1 and wrong on #2.


1. Nothing. But, many of the people here are interested in buying higher end equipment and/or have probably installed their own theater. This gives me the opportunity to get valuable useage information from a vast audience which usually researched their purchases. Given that they spend a lot of time researching their home theater equipment, they probably did some research on the tools that they used to install them.


2. The more expensive drills use C batteries. Most of the inexpensive counterparts use AA batteries. This means that the cheap drills will not have the same amp-hour ratings, thus a shorter run time. Also, the cheap drill use composite gears and the more expensive drills use metal.


I am not trying to find out specifics on the drills, just the basics. Has anyone had a Rigid that broke? Do the batteries last? Are there any issues that I may not have thought of?

 

[noah katz]

"I can destroy or loose a $200 drill just as fast as I can destroy a $36 dollar one."


Obviously the voice of inexperience (vis a vis destyroying).


Really Tryg, if you're not interested, just butt out.


7Music7,


If you were happy with the Porter Cable why not stick with it? Lots on ebay and I'm sure online retailers as well.


A friend of mine has a cabinet shop and that's what he reccommends, he commented on the P-C batteries in particular, said they really hung in there. Unlike my Makitas', but I got them before his advice.

 

[7Music7]

I also find it funny that people, Tyrg for example, are so opinionated about a subject they they obviously know NOTHING about.

 

[7Music7]

Noah,


Thank you for the first intelligent answer!


I am looking for a local source due to future (Possible) warranty issues. Porter cable is a great drill, but in limited supply locally.

 

[Big Damn Dave]

Tryg, how do you destroy or "loose" a $200.00 drill or a $36.00 drill? If you're destroying your tools, chances are good that you aren't using them properly in the first place! If you are trying to say that there is no difference in quality from one drill to another, either you haven't done much work with power tools, or your so busy destroying them that you haven't learned the benefits of torque, battery life, charge time, etc. There are differences in quality from drill to drill, and I make no assumptions on price versus quality


If you don't have a helpful or informative response, than don't respond at all! Speaking for me, I have no time to waste with arrogant and condescending replies from someone who seems to think the topic is beneath him. If you ever need to borrow a tool, please don't bother asking me; the answer is a hearty, "Hell no!"

 

[Mark Hoy]

You might want to try this question in the "Home Theater Builder" area.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my Ryobi 18v drill set. It's not as nice as my friend PC but than again, I can afford a number of battery packs (chargers) for the price of a PorterCable one.


You might want to try this forum which although sponsered by Ryobi has a spirted discussion of what to spend your $$$ on.
http://www.ryobitools.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi