Makita combo pack

[The Amazon]

Been putting up home made fence panels with 13 mm bolt head screws securing them to the posts, 8 to a panel and 1 in the post to met posts, half way down the garden and my hands are aching from the ratchet spanner and sledge hammer use, can not do much about the hammer but thought an impact driver would be a good idea, looking on B&Q site I was a bit shocked to see a bare bones Makita impact driver no battery, no charger, no case was £57 and batteries £59, but they did have a combo panel of drill, impact driver, 2 batteries, a charger, a case and a few bits for £150, i already have a Makita drill and two batteries so interchangeability was key, the impact driver is compact and seems strong.

 

[Mako]

The problem, of course, is that once you invest in a particular brand's tools and batteries, you're kind of locked in to them.

You got a good deal there, but now when you buy more cordless tools you'll be looking at Makita stuff because after all, you've already got the batteries! And then when those batteriess die, you'll want to buy Makita ones because after all, that's the tools you've got...

It's fine as long as you go in with your eyes open, but vendor lock-in is a thing that's been around for at least a century or so. Don't fall for it.

 

[The Amazon]

I have a draper cordless and mains powered drill as well and have worx jet wash, strimmer, single handed circular saw and car polisher so not a slave to one manufacturer but interchangeability is very handy all the same and if you get one tool that's well made and reliable than makes sense to go with the same, black and decker were very good years ago but now are not that great.

 

[Mako]

I don't lke government interference all that much, but could you imagine if there was a mandated standard for battery tech?

Not too far of a reach - mobile device manufacturers are already getting spanked over USB-C charging - but wouldn't it be great if you could buy your preferred tool and just slap in whatever charged battery you had to hand?

 

[The Amazon]

Think the whole mobile phone battery setup is a backward step now you can not change the batteries once they are dead but the phone is still good

 

[Mako]

Non-removable batteries are definitely a con. Not so much a lock-in, but... "Oh, it won't take a charge? Bring it to us and we'll put a new one in. Oh! It's 5 years old? Well maybe you need a new phone then. It'll be cheaper than asking us to work on this old one..."

I definitely don't lke that. I want hardware to work until it simply can't anymore. That's why I drive a Cougar and not a 74-plate Audi S5.

Well, that and the fact that I'm tight.

 

[mabo]

You n Me both Mako.
Is it tight or is it simply looking or your hard earned cash.

I‘m happy to blow the budget on some things but I still want best value for my spend.

Caution is required on batteries though. I had to write an incident report on a none branded Chinese copy battery one of my guys was using.
It burst into flames whilst charging.
By good fortune it was on a non flammable surface and the guys were around to unplug it. It could have been so much worse if the guys had been on break.

There is new guidance published on battery charging. If you buy solar panels and battery storage then for F sake don’t put the battery in you attic, under the stairs or on a fire escape route.
Otherwise it may cost you a whole lot more than you expected.

 

[Mako]

Totally agree. And there have been at least three large airliners, (one a Combi, two passenger ones with cargo) lost because of battery fires. That's why there are restrictions on how much charge a battery can hold if it is transported by air.

We demand so much of battery tech, forgetting that the energy concentration is such that they are literal bombs in our homes. I don't charge anything overnight, and that includes genuine batteries with certified charge limiters.

The cadmium was bad enough. But the lithium chemistry is just...

 

[backseateducation]

I must admit when I was looking for a new drill, I went for a corded 240v one. There isn't anywhere in our house or garden I can't get an extension lead to, and you seem to be able to get a quality make with a lot of power for a pretty cheap price. I've done the same with a grinder - I'm happy to risk a £25 plug-in one from eBay (it's not something I use a huge amount!), but I'm not sure I'd want a similarly priced battery one. Of course with these, and any other power tools I always use a plug in circuit breaker just in case of a fault or if I'm stupid enough to cut the cable.