Ryobi cordless drill/driver?

debbie42

I've a project coming up which really warrants buying a cordless screwdriver. Last time I needed one, I bought a cheap Wickes own-brand one, and it was good while the battery lasted, but is now kaput. I have a decent Makita corded drill which I'd use for heavy duty stuff, so I'm not bothered about the cordless having lots of drilling power.

I was looking at the Ryobi one+ range, as I also like the look of the strimmer in that range, so could just about, at a pinch, justify the lithium battery option.

Anyway, they do two options, in the cheaper drivers: a one speed, and a two speed which is a tenner more. I was wondering
a) Is it worth the extra tenner?
b) Is the Ryobi one+ a decent product?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

zax47

a) Yes, more versatile.

b) Yes. but check what capacity the battery(s) supplied are - anything less than about 1.7Ah isn't enough. All the cheap offers on the "big" brands (De Walt, Makita, Ryobi, Hitachi, Bosch) seem to have low capacity batteries (1.5Ah or less) which are little use for long jobs.

27col

I would not buy any cordless tool that did not have two batteries and a rapid charger. Even in this day and age there are still people trying to sell tools that have only one battery and a charger that takes several hours.
I agree entirely with zax47 about the battery capacity.

debbie42

I ended up getting a special offer Ryobi package with two Li-On batteries from Screwfix:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/56826/Power-Tools/Cordless-Drills/Ryobi-18V-Combi-with-2-x-Li-ion-Batteries?ts=91672
This is a One+ product, though Screwfix don't advertise it as such.

The batteries are the lower capacity slimline ones, but you get two and the price is very good (edit: £99.99). The drill/driver performed very well on the wood project I was building, and I'm very pleased with it so far.

ormus

for DIY use, i would have bought another wickes own brand one. mine is still going strong after about ten years. cost me about 20/25 quid.

anything more serious and you need a pro model. say makita.