In theory, you'd think the star drive Deckmate screws would be a good
thing.

Unfortunately, the quality of the Home Depot screws negates that
theory.

While building my shed over the weekend, I found that many of the
screws had 1 of 2 issues:

1 - There was so much gunk on the tip of the screw that it would just
spin and not bite into the wood.
2 - There was so much gunk in the star that the bit wouldn't seat
properly, in many cases causing the drill to slip out of the hole and
slam into the wood.

The gunk in the hole is the worst of the problems. You'd get zipping
along, setting a screw, driving it, setting a screw driving it,
*think* you're setting a screw and -BAM- the bit slips out, the screw
goes flying and the drill slams into the wood, you lose your balance,
etc.

It slows down the job because you have to make sure the bit is seated
each time.

I hear Lowes still has the Phillips-Square drive combo. I'll have to
go see.