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Andy Bennet

On 03/07/2020 09:01, wrote:
I'm tempted to spend some of the kid's inheritance on 18V tools (they'll
probably be less-than impressed to inherit used tools instead of cash -
kids today! ;-) ) and would like some advice from those who use Mak,
Ryobi, DeWalt, etcetera.
I've only just started looking and had expected that Ryobi would be
significantly cheaper, but the price difference is not so great. I've
had a Ryobi scroll saw and a chop saw for many years and both are best
described as "adequate", but the chop saw has recently died and the
Bosch replacement is hugely better (and hugely more expensive).

What do people think of their main brand (18V) tools?
Has anyone here tried the battery adapters for Ryobi-Mak-DeW?

I would say the 3 main brands are DeWalt, Makita and Milwaukee.
Personally I think they are much of a muchness - but the ranges of
available tools do vary slightly. I wanted a few garden type tools as
well - hedge trimmer/weed whacker as well as all the normal workshop stuff.
You need to look at all your needs for the forseeable and make sure the
brand you go for covers it.
Once you have decided you are pretty much locked in - the batteries are
expensive to change ship.
Once you have a couple of batteries you only need to buy 'bare' tools in
the future.
There are many clone batteries on the market - IMHO they are all crap so
avoid.

Personally if it helps I opted for Makita and have no regrets.