Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Hitachi 18-Volt 1/2" Cordless Driver Drill, Flashlight & 1.5Ah Li-Ion Battery with Carry Case
$99.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

How do these batteries stack up against the competitors? I've had my eyes on a cordless drill for a while now, but battery life is critical for me.

$153 at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-DS18DSAL-18-Volt-2-Inch-Driver/dp/B001N2NTEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314162115&sr=8-1

I've been looking for a drill recently. Haven't had to use one for work in a while, so not expecting a DeWalt or whatnot, but something that will stand up to household repairs and maybe a bit of tinkering for a few years without being totally wimpy. Is this a deal? or should I be trawling for that special sale?

Wow. This is for the steel-toe-boot crowd. Almost no-one needs a cordless drill this powerful. And for someone not-so-large like myself, it's liable to be heavy enough to induce fatigue long before the battery dies.

With 18 Volts and 1/2" capacity, this drill really should perform as well as (a good) one with a cord.

How hard-core is this? It has a lifetime warranty for home use, and 2 year for professional use. For most tools, professional use voids the warranty immediately.

For most of us amateurs, we're probably better off with a lighter one with two batteries (so you can get all the way to the end of a big job); Woot! sometimes has them in the $60 range.

But if you want a really serious cordless drill, this is your baby.

mm20 wrote:How do these batteries stack up against the competitors? I've had my eyes on a cordless drill for a while now, but battery life is critical for me.

not too well. the angles are awkward and don't seem to match well with the contour of say...a makita. i'd recommend using either or for stacking and binding (utilizing metallic medium of choice) boards and the like.


[Mod: Har-dee-har-har]

I have a Milwakee and it is the best $ I ever spend on a tool.

biomedvahan wrote:I have a Milwakee and it is the best $ I ever spend on a tool.

home depot owns milwakee now

Oh my gosh! Woot's selling a drill with a Li-ion battery!

Holy smokes! I've already got a pretty nice cordless drill, but this one definitely wins for baddest @ss-looking drill. It almost looks evil it's so cool. Are you guys sure these aren't standard kit for the X-men?

What always makes me wonder, is why just about every cordless power tool kit out there includes a flashlight? Is it just to add an extra "piece" to the set for a relatively low cost, or are they really that important?

I can sort of understand the usefulness of one if the kit included TWO batteries, so that you can drill/drive and light up the spot at the same time. But being able to use just one or the other?

That said, I do have a set of cordless tools (different brand) which of course includes a flashlight, but which also includes a second battery, and surprisingly I found myself using it quite often when working in poorly lit quarters. Not that I would have bought one if I had an option not to. I mean a $10 LED flashlight with a stand does work just as well.. But now that I have it as a part of a kit I do use it.

I got the ni-cad version in a previous woot, and so far has been a great drill. as powerful as the makitas at work, but i like the balance/feel of the hitachi a little better.

Sorry, my error earlier--pointed to wrong product.

Drill by itself froogled

Hmm, this looks to be the same drill I bought during the last woot-off for $65. But I didn't get a flashlight.

EDIT: It was $60, and it was with the Ni-Cad batteries. Arrives on Thursday.

project12x wrote:I've been looking for a drill recently. Haven't had to use one for work in a while, so not expecting a DeWalt or whatnot, but something that will stand up to household repairs and maybe a bit of tinkering for a few years without being totally wimpy. Is this a deal? or should I be trawling for that special sale?

These are no DeWalts, but they will serve the average homeowner well.

so the drill has an LED light on it, but the flashlight uses an old-fashion incandescent bulb? I was so close to pulling the trigger too.

About.com review:

http://woodworking.about.com/od/cordlessdrills/gr/HitachiDS18DSAL.htm

project12x wrote:I've been looking for a drill recently. Haven't had to use one for work in a while, so not expecting a DeWalt or whatnot, but something that will stand up to household repairs and maybe a bit of tinkering for a few years without being totally wimpy. Is this a deal? or should I be trawling for that special sale?

This is really much larger than the average household needs. You need a 3/8 drill with an 8-12 volt battery. This 18 volt battery weighs a ton. You can get a good one for around 50 bucks.

erhii wrote:$153 at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-DS18DSAL-18-Volt-2-Inch-Driver/dp/B001N2NTEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314162115&sr=8-1

that one includes two batteries, so not exactly a fair comparison.

My DeWalt drill has a built-in LED mini-light to show you where you are drilling. I think that's a better idea unless you are working in an area without lighting. As for how Big, Powerful and Mean it is, I'd like to note that it's a 2 speed (not actually variable speed, unless they mean variable speed with reverse), weighs 3.5lbs, and is probably lighter than a 1/2" NiCad drill. IOW it's more a 'homeowner drill' than a 'contractor drill'.

I helped a friend put up a fence and his Hitachi kept up with my Dewalt just fine.

Since the hitachi power tools website didn't have the manuals, I went to another site:

http://www.toolauthority.com/schematics/17/4753/DS18DSAL_OM_new.pdf for the manual

http://www.toolauthority.com/schematics/17/4753/DS18DSAL_BD.pdf for the schematics

http://www.toolauthority.com/schematics/17/4753/DS18DSAL_T.pdf for the tool card.

For $99.99 it should have 2 batteries. If you run out of power you have to wait for the battery to charge. Not good.

mm20 wrote:How do these batteries stack up against the competitors? I've had my eyes on a cordless drill for a while now, but battery life is critical for me.

I have two of these - I keep one in my truck and one on the job site - I love them - very well balanced and light wieght - bateries outlast dewalt ion batteries

jeffiekins wrote:Wow. This is for the steel-toe-boot crowd. Almost no-one needs a cordless drill this powerful. And for someone not-so-large like myself, it's going to be heavy enough to induce fatigue long before the battery dies.

With 18 Volts and 1/2" capacity, this drill really should perform as well as (a good) one with a cord.

For most of us amateurs, we're better off with a lighter one with two batteries (so you can get all the way to the end of a big job); Woot! sometimes has them in the $60 range.

I have this kit. It's fantastic, and it's very light weight compared to any Ni-Cad or NiMH drill you'd buy, weighing in at just over three pounds. It's lighter than my good (female) friend's DeWalt Li-Ion, and (not to discriminate) neither of us (I'm male) have issues with fatigue when using it.

To give some background on my use, I'm a volunteer carpenter that builds sets for large-scale community theatre productions, regularly working with heavy lumber and hardware. I've used this drill to drive four inch screws and carriage bolts for a large sum of hours, as well as to do delicate repairs on trim work. I highly recommend it.

I paid almost twice as much; mine came with two batteries (charge time ~ 15 mins) with a lifetime warranty. Even with the smaller warranty and what looks to be one battery, this is a fantastic deal.

One last thing, that little metal belt hook... that thing is awesome.

I bought the much heavier Ni-Cd Hitachi drill from the previous woot off!. I used it today to adjust my front door hinges and so far I am very happy with it. It sure beats my cheap Ryobi drill that it replaced.

This drill for sale seems similar. They both have lots of torque and speed settings, but this one is MUCH lighter. I have a bit of buyers remorse after seeing this much lighter one for sale, but the fact I paid $40 less and mine came with two (albeit NiCd) batteries helps ease the pain a bit.

Not sure how reliable this review is, but you can look for yourself--it's the top entry, the person said had used it for 6 months and was that person's "favorite":

http://www.rjconstmgmt.com/cordless-drill-review-my-top-picks/

I've been touting the Hitachi 18v LiIon tools for quite some time. I have a review that has been "most helpful" and "featured" on another site for years now.

I use these daily. This is an outstanding price just for the battery alone. Both of mine are still running strong, the first over six years old (excluding batteries which I rebuild myself to save on the obscene cost of batteries for all cordless tools)

They're not the most drop-friendly tools, and they look "cutesy" (which, to an extent, I appreciate) but battery life is excellent and the torque is there to cause some physical harm.

My first was the NiMH, and it's great but doesn't have the flat power curve through the life of the battery that the LiIon has.

Mine's a bit older, it's the DV-18DL with the 3Ah EBM1830 LiIon battery (that's the one with the hammer. The one without the hammer is the DV-18D). I also have the recip saw and the circular saw.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them.

Two videos so far:

This one vs. the Dewalt DC720KA shows the Hitachi's battery doesn't last as long. It's from thepowertoolforum.com, but it looks like the site is no more/name for sale?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4NembbUQk0

The other one just focuses on the Hitachi:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4NembbUQk0

I am so bummed that this has only one battery. I have one of these that I bought on sale at Lowes for 130.00 and it had two batteries. If this had two batteries I would have bought it in a second. My drill is about 3 years old and I have dropped it many times it even fell off the back of my truck once and the battery fell apart but is now having a hard time holding a charge. The batteries last for about 8 hours of solid drilling with torque unlike those nicad batteries that go out after an hour. I have talked to carpenters at work sites who say that Hitachi is the best brand for saws, etc. Cmon woot, throw in another battery for twenty bucks extra and I'll buy one for sure!!!!

TJFoxxxx wrote:These are no DeWalts, but they will serve the average homeowner well.

I work with half a dozen guys that run DeWalts. This drill easily keeps up, and it's lighter to boot. I highly recommend it.

Saviore13 wrote:I have this kit. It's fantastic, and it's very light weight compared to any Ni-Cad drill you'd buy, weighing in at just over three pounds. It's lighter than my good (female) friend's DeWalt Li-Ion, and (not to discriminate) neither of us (I'm male) have issues with fatigue when using it.
...

My bad. I didn't notice the Li-Ion battery. Though it still weighs as much as my 14.4 NiCd Skil, which has plenty of torque for household use. (I have also built a bunch of sets, and I wouldn't use it for that, but people are asking about household use.)

greenshopping wrote:
Sells with the extra battery for $78,
or you can get the "Grade C" (which is what I got, and let me tell you, it looks brand new!) for $68.

Wow, the grade C version is now $42! Now I really have buyers remorse with the woot NiCad version I just bought!

EDIT: The NiCad version is $42.

A Hitachi BSL1815X 18-volt lithium-ion rechargeable battery starts at approx. the lowest price of $70 from Amazon, which is the same as the approx. lowest price of the drill with no battery at Amazon, & would have almost doubled the price if they had added a 2nd battery.

Wow, it has a great long lasting approx. battery life of 4.5 hours according to the description.

friend of mine has 1.5Ah Li-Ion powered drill and it seems to just keep going and going and never stops... I was extremely impressed with it and plan to purchase this for my next drill. Thanks!

The "real" Hitachi set comes with 2 batteries and costs about $150. The best price I could find on the extra battery (indispensable, IMO) is $70. So the Woot! deal this time is not really a good one. Too bad as I'm in the market for a cordless drill...

Our theatre's scene shop just bought a bunch of these impact drivers (I'm assuming that's what woot means by "high torgue setting") as well as a couple of their standard Li-ion drills. So far they beat the PANTS off the Ni-MH Dewalts we used to use. And they are MUCH lighter.

I can't see the value in this when Amazon has the same with TWO batteries for only $53 more. the cheapest extra battery is at least $65 PLUS shipping. If you do any real drilling/driving you NEED 2 batteries. Sorry Woot, a rare miss!

Remember this is the SAME with 2 Lithium Ion batteries: http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-DS18DSAL-18-Volt-2-Inch-Driver/dp/B001N2NTEI/ref=pd_sim_hi_1

project12x wrote:I've been looking for a drill recently. Haven't had to use one for work in a while, so not expecting a DeWalt or whatnot, but something that will stand up to household repairs and maybe a bit of tinkering for a few years without being totally wimpy. Is this a deal? or should I be trawling for that special sale?

This could be an overkill for household chores. 18 volt is contractor power. OTOH, it will do whatever you want done and you probably won't wear it out.