Ryobi BID-1801 impact driver (kinda review, long post)
 

Picked one of these up yesterday whilst browsing at the local B&Q Warehouse
for a special offer mitre saw stand (sold out dammit). Now, I already have a
Metabo SSP-12 impact driver, pretty much an essential tool for me, as I'm an
exhibition joiner and need the grunt of an impact driver to get things done
*fast*. Metabo have always been my weapon of choice, but this little cheap
£69 Ryobi kicked its £220 ass straight out of the box.

The Metabo has 100 Nm of peak fastening torque vs. the Ryobi's 135. Now,
we're talking 12V against 18V here, so no surprise. The big surprise is the
way the Ryobi handles. Better balanced, less kickback, lighter, and... it
has a high intensity LED worklight for those dark corners - literally,
brilliant. The Ryobi also ships out with an ingenious "plug in lanyard" that
clips in where the battery fits and hooks onto a tool belt. Again,
brilliant.

The business end? I've just done a day's work with this thing and it rocks.
My ancient 1.5 Ah Ryobi BPP-1815 batteries fit it and just one of them saw
it through a day of 5mm x 70 screws, unpiloted, into MDF. Not a particularly
stern test, but a result all the same. Ryobi are offering a pair of 1.7 Ah
Panasonic sourced batt packs for £40, a no-brainer for me. Throw in an
in-car charger (with the brains to realise your car battery is going flat,
at which point it stops charging) for £30 and I'm sold.

Minus points:
No carry case. Not a problem, I'll make one.
Sold naked, ie no batts or charger. I already had a compatible charger and
two batt packs, again NP. They'll sell you the whole mess for £70 if you
don't already have compatible kit.
It's Ryobi. People think you're cheap. Yet again, NP, I *am* cheap. Besides,
I've had so many tools stolen, I'd rather the stolen tool cost £69 than
£220.
Probably won't last as long as the Metabo/ Makita equivalents. But it will
probably last as long as the equivalent overpriced DeWalt.

Conclusion:
If you screw a lot of screws, buy this driver.
If you screw the odd screw, and have a compatible 18V Ryobi charger and batt
packs (models nos. BPP-1815/ 1817 and BCC-1815) buy this driver.
If you want an impact driver on the cheap to test the water, buy it, buy the
batteries, buy one of the chargers.

I'm not affiliated with Ryobi, just one very happy customer. Sorry for the
long post.

PS Have a Metabo SSP-12 going cheap. 4 months heavy professional use.
Surplus to requirements.