Dan_Musicant wrote:

most of the energy drain on my cordless drill
batteries is from sitting around, not from use. I think I'll stick with
NiCads for that reason.

If you are letting the thing sit around a lot, get lithium batteries. The
self-discharge of NiMH is overstated by many - they do discharge faster than
NiCd, but not outrageously so. Li Ion, OTOH, will stay charged for long
periods. However, the life of a Li battery is more closely tied to state of
charge than to number of charge/discharge cycles. If it sits around fully
charged a lot, it will not last as long as if it's allowed to sit around
partially charged.

Mike