Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

Most NiHm last longer than most NiCads. Exceptions abound. My Panasonics
are great still after three years, my Ryobi barely made one.

How true. My DeWalts die in about three years like clockwork: but
after hard use so many other things are wrong with the drills that I
pitch them if they make 3. I feel like I got plenty of miles out of a
cordelss drill at 3.

But I have Sears "professional" 14.4 that I got off Ebay really cheap
from Sears as an "open box". ( I mean really cheap...) After 3 years
it works like it was brand new. Go figure. Outside of the fact that
it is a little uncomfortable to hold, it may be the longest lasting and
hardest working drill I have ever owned.

I had a Makita drill, a "high power" or some such baloney as that that
had batteries that wouldn't hold a charge for more than a day or two
when it was brand new. It was such a piece of crap I hated it.

I think about the only two that really seem to have the whole battery
useful life down solid are Panasonic and Milwaukee (which I understand
uses Panansonic batteries).

I really don't know of anyone that uses them day in and day out that
gets much more than three years out of the batteries, though.

Robert