Kaiser wrote:

You must be in a minority, most sites I've worked on they use Bosch, Makita
or Dewalt and occasionally Metabo power tools... don't think I've ever seen
a Wickes drill on site.

I recently bought a Metabo 12 volt cordless for just under £100, I
chose this specifically because I needed a lot of torque for driving
big (6mm x 100 and 8mm x 120) screws into fence posts. The Metabo was
about the cheapest cordless I could find with torque at or around the
50nM area.

It's the first 'professional' or 'non DIY/cheapie' cordless that I've
bought. I already have an old Skil, a Ferm 24v 'combi' and a cheap
9.6 volt green Bosch.

After having had the Metabo for a few months now and comparing it with
the 'cheap' tools I have my thoughts are as follows:-

It is better and nicer to use, but whether it's four times better
(that's the price differential) I'm not sure.

The speed control etc. is somewhat better but not really a huge
amount different.

The thing I really, really like about it is the 'one handed'
chuck, brilliant! (The Bosch chuck is particularly bad)

In general now if I take one cordless to a job it's the Metabo but
having several is still very useful to avoid bit changes etc.

If one needs something specific (like the high torque I wanted)
then it may only be available in a more expensive 'professional'
tool.


--
Chris Green