There's more to this.... I thought I would post a follow up to the Li
battery scheme.

After talking to two reps and th HD guy their marketing schtick goes
like this:

+ You will get almost double the duty cycles from our Li batteries
than you did with NiCad batteries. Double!! That means a savings to
you as a "pro" over the long haul!

- But wait, if I have to charge them 3 - 4 times as much when in
actual use, how did I come out ahead on that? I'll be underwater
since the batteries won't "work" as long between charges...

+ Our new batteries only take 15 minutes to charge!

- In the field: yeah, but they only last about 15% of the time as the
3 Ah batteries.

+ But we give you TWO batteries, so you can always be on the ready!

- In the field: OK, so now I have NEED two batteries that I have to
fiddle with to get to 30% performance of a real battery? If I drill a
bunch of holes, then need the second battery and it isn't finished
charging, then what? (See broken record response above)

+ Well, you could always buy a 3 Ah off the rack over there....
another $100 and you would be in business!

- So let me get this right; I can buy a new tool that doesn't do what
I want it to do, then back it up with an accessory that will let it
perform as it should. And this accessory is almost 50% of the cost of
the tool in question?

+ Well sir, if you buy Ridgid under this promotion and register
properly, you will get lifetime coverage on batteries as well as the
drill under normal use. (Note: Not all batteries on all cordless
tools put out by Ridgid have this warranty; buy carefully)

- Well sir, if I was working in a tight place and had to recharge my
F'in drill every 5 - 6th hole, I would take a hammer and beat it to
pieces.

+ Oh.... well, that wouldn't be covered under warranty, sir.

OK.. seriously guys. What do you do with these pieces of crap? Is a
Li $200 to $275 drill a homeowner drill?

They had a few old DeWalt NiCads left on the shelf. With the XT
batteries, they were pretty hard to beat. There is some talk that
with the unpopularity of the Li (there are some temp problems with
some) that DeWalt will continue on with the NiCad lines. They seem
abundant on Amazon, and even new NiCad models are available.

I guess the reason this ****es me off so much is that I got stung with
the whole NiCad to NiMh battery switch. I still have a Makita that
works well when charged, but I was disappointed that I spent $300 to
upgrade from my favorite old DeWalt, only to find that I didn't get
the performance of my $239 DeWalt compact drill driver. I felt like
Makita burned me good, and since there wasn't anything technically
wrong with the drill, after more than 90 days of wrestling with it, my
vendor wouldn't take it back. So I have a $300 "shop only" drill.
Verrrry practical. And it ****es me off any time I see it.

It is a horse when charged, but will easily discharge (almost
completely) itself in the truck when not used in about 2 weeks. It
forced me to carry a corded drill for backup, which I never did when I
had the DeWalt. DW seemed like it was always ready to go, and it
would hold a good charge in the truck for a month. I don't want to
get to a house to install new hardware and hinges and have to wait on
the drill to charge every time. And I don't want to start carrying a
backup drill for my front line drill again.

OK, rant off. Buy these new "slim lines" or "compacts" at your own
risk. I thought some here might be interested to see just what you
would be getting when these things are on sale, or up at a good price
for the holiday season.

And if you think I was ****y, google around a bit and find posts from
people that have spent their hard earned bucks on these.

Robert