( 5 reviews )
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Posted: Nov 16 2007
I can't believe I am the only review here. I have owned this drill for about two years and we have done just about everything together. We built book shelves, a cedar fence, a cedar pergola (including drilling perfect straight holes through three $100 pieces of 6 x 6 clear heart cedar), hung a wall of kitchen cabinets and every odd job you can think of. Two years and the two batteries are doing well, the light is a great feature I use all the time and the only thing that ever slowed it down was drilling with a 4" hole saw through an oak floor, but guess what, the same job slowed down a AC powered drill. This drill is my number one tool and it is fantastic and reliable. I actually returned a Makita 18v that had a defect and got this one instead. Lucky me. Heartily recommended. Sure, maybe Hitachi tools are styles like sneakers with all those wild designs, but they are really good tools. This one is a gem.
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( 5 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 22 2006
I've been looking around for some time to replace my 18v DeWalt XRP with something that would be more comfortable to use with plenty of power to handle multiple jobs. I come from a family of builders and everyone has their preference. In my opinion, brands aside, the 3 tools to look at are: Hitachi DS14DMR (14.4v w/2.0 Ah Ni-Cd battery), Panasonic EY6432NQKW (15.6v w/3.0 Ah Ni-Mh battery), and Bosch Brute 33614-2G (14.4v w/2.0 Ah Ni-Cd battery). All drills are excellent. Panasonic has the mojo on battery life, Bosch on torque, and Hitachi on overall comfort. The Hitachi works well, holds bits well, and comes with a well-designed belt clip with integrated light, and good bit storage on the base. The power is there if and when you need it and the battery wear is okay. If you're like me and want something that'll be comfortable to use, the Hitachi is a good bet. If you're like me and want something comfortable with long battery life, buy the Hitachi and order the 3.0 ah Ni-Mh battery separately when needed (part number 318371 model EB1430H). Like most drills, if you drop it from 6 feet, it'll probably break. If you need to do allot of hole boring, get an extension cord and use a corded drill. Good luck, great drilling!
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 2 2005
I'm a commercial electrician and depend on a good cordless drill every day of the week. This one was on sale and the selling points that put me over the edge was the LED light/belt hook. That's so handy for climbing ladders etc that I'll never want a drill without a hook again. First the good news. It's powerful. Pull the trigger and the green machine revs like a Porche. It's also got a very solid feel to it. Makes a DeWalt feel like a Yugo in comparison. So really the thing is strong and solid and that counts for the most points when I choose a drill. And the bad.....Batteries. Why Hitachi is only providing 2 Amp Hour Ni-Cd batteries In the year 2005 is beyond me. They do make better ones- I've seen them. Then why don't include them with a tool clearly aimed at professionals? As a homeowner I'd be more than happy but I'm taking this tool places far away from my service van and charger. The last thing I want is for my drill to die when a better battery that SHOULD have been included in the first place would still have juice. Give us the good stuff, Hitachi. I would have gladly paid $20 more for much better batts. Anything less than 2.5 Ah Ni-MH cells these days is simply unexcusable. Panasonic's offering 3.5 Ah units, why can't Hitachi do better? Also I've had the charger refuse to charge them a couple times. And no, they weren't too hot. I had to reinsert them in the charger and that solved it. But it would be a real problem if a guy stuck the battery in to rechage in a hurry and returned to find the charger was having a bad day. Now you have TWO dead batteries. These things need to be bulletproof. The chuck I have mixed feelings about. Some people like the drills where the spindle locks when no power is applied. I don't care too much about that because I always tighten my bit/tool with the spindle spinning and my left hand gripping it. Much faster that way. But this chuck tends to improperly seat itself on hex-shaped driver bits. The little ridges that help it grip drill bits very well(a good thing) can also bite driver bits on the ridges of the bit instead of the flat spots. (a bad thing) When this happens, sometimes the chuck can loosen and out comes the bit. I never had this problem with my older 18v Makita. So I have to guide the bit into the chuck making sure it seats properly before torquing it down in there. Annoying. And it also makes chucking up stepper drill bits a hassle too. A chuck should be designed to bite a tool where it is supposed to and not be prone to misload. To it's credit I like the large metal grippy ring it has for holding on to. Nicer than the plastic type many manufacturers put on their drills. The carry case is a bit on the large side but it does provide a good place to store bits/drivers/holesaws. And perhaps the tool is a tad heavy but as I said before it feels solid as a rock and should not pose any fatigue problems except maybe during electrical rough-in. In which case any old 12v should do anyhow. (Unless you get your hands on the new Makita Lithium-Ion 18v model. 560 in-lbs of torque, weighs less than many 12v drills. drool...stare...covet. But it IS $300+ and not yet available.) Bottom line for me..For my line of work I'd really prefer a longer lasting battery. The other stuff isn't really a deal breaker. From the handle up it's a clear winner. But with the crummy included batteries I'd probably look elsewhere before making this purchase again.
