Sub £100 combi drill for DIY beginner

JimmyChanga

Depends if you just want a drill or then later add to it.

Lot of the premium brands do good offers on combi drills to get people in to buying other tools compatible with the battery platform.

Have a look at the Aldi Ferrex stuff as well. Look like they're made by the same company that makes a lot of stuff sold by Screwfix (Titan, Erbauer etc)

cybervic

I bought this last year for renovating a flat. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00L3XK06C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I absolutely love it, light weight and easy to use, Lithium-ion battery doesn't lose power for several month, good for general DIY.

noclaf

What about.something like this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7235548
Not buying from Argos necessarily but as an example a £50 simple corded Bosch....should be able to easily manage the light stuff and tougher masonry while being durable in the long-term? I don't mind spending more.but curious how powerful this model would be and.whether it's better to spend a bit more etc

troffasky

I had originally wanted a corded drill as I didn't believe in all that battery nonsense but realised that corded combi drills pretty much don't exist and ended up with a Makita LXT DHP458 drill. And now I have LXT work lamp, impact driver and circular saw. Not exactly money saving advice, I know, but I am pretty sure I'll still be able to get batteries 10 years hence.

Norman_Castle

noclaf wrote: »

What about.something like this: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7235548
Not buying from Argos necessarily but as an example a £50 simple corded Bosch....should be able to easily manage the light stuff and tougher masonry while being durable in the long-term? I don't mind spending more.but curious how powerful this model would be and.whether it's better to spend a bit more etc

My 550w skil drill is very similar and in 20 years has only once failed to drill a hole which was in concrete but in 20 years I've only once needed to drill into concrete. I've got various green Bosch tools and have always found them very good for the price.

noclaf

I think it's likely will go for something from Makita/DeWalt/Ryobi/Bosch...depending.on the deals that come up. They all offer solid options based on the reviews and feedback on here too.

spadoosh

If youre spending £100 on a multipurpose drill your just not really going to go far wrong. Just keep it towards the higher powers (18v+) and ideally get a second battery because inevitably when you want to use it youll find the battery flat or close to. This is particularly true with retail drills, they have a lower ah rating which is in relation to the capacity of the battery. A 2ah battery will hold half as much charge as a 4ah battery. Places like B&Q tend to sell the retail batteries usually around 1.3ah where as the trade batteries are more usually around 4ah. Youll probably pay more for a 4ah battery than you would 2 smaller retail ones.

Be careful with the batteries on li ion drills, they dont like being left on low charge, so give it a bit of a charge before storing it for a while.

SDS is almost certainly going to be overkill unless you plan on drilling core holes (mainly for installing waste pipes and extractor vents) or you have particularly dense brick like accrington. You can usually hire the relevant equipment should it be needed.

Ive got quite a lot of tools and have sold many many more, realistically theres much over muchness between brands, my combi is a makita but id be just as happy using a dewalt or a bosch drill (although i tend not to like the cosmetics of bosch power tools).

JimmyChanga

I think it's likely will go for something from Makita/DeWalt/Ryobi/Bosch...depending.on the deals that come up. They all offer solid options based on the reviews and feedback on here too.

Don't discount Hitachi (now called HiKoki). They've been pushing the technology to get their head above the usual brand names. I'm very happy with their stuff.

noclaf

JimmyChanga wrote: »

Don't discount Hitachi (now called HiKoki). They've been pushing the technology to get their head above the usual brand names. I'm very happy with their stuff.

They have been pushing their prices upto by the looks of it!!!

patman99

I think most of the main brands learned their lessons with regards to changing battery designs a few years back. Ryobi, Makita, Bosch etc have committed to keeping the same pack, even if the tech inside changes.


For instance, I can pick up a blue Ryobi with push-in NiCad pack and use my Li-ion packs on it with no issues.


The Ferrex range is made by Worx, so the batteries are interchangeable with Worx stuff.


As for weight not being an issue, try holding 2 bags of sugar at arms length for 5 minutes, then do the same with just one.