Cordless Drill / Impact Driver: Makita or Panasonic?

Panasonic has always been good tools products, but the Makita didn’t come short either. I really like the Li-Ion Makita tools, they feel really nice in your hand, and are light, and efficient.

-- My Drinking Club has a Woodworking Problem...

Can’t speak for the new Makitas but I have been abusing one of the earlier models for about ten years. I thought it finally bit the dust last month when the charger failed. Not being one to spend to quickly (read: CHEAP) I tore the charger apart. Turns out to be a bad solder joint. Soldered it and it’s as good as almost new.

Lew

I bought the Makita combo and think they are great. Plenty of power and batteries hold their charge. Very pleased with them so far. I would recommend this combo set.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I have the Makita 3ah 18v (BTD140 I think???) impact driver and put it to work hard everyday. Stands up great, batteries last a long time, charges quickly, feels great in my hands. I would recommend, buy again, all that stuff… I am a contractor and do mostly remodels, decks, etc…

However, Panasonic won a review by a contractor in the most recent Fine Homebuilding.

Regards, JM

-- Jarrod, Eagle Nest, NM http://anthologyfinefurniture.wordpress.com

I prefer Makita to Panasonic. I think that the next generation Milwaukee and Dewalt will be the ones to buy though

-- making sawdust....

Ditto on the Makita, got the set at the orange box and they are light, work hard and charge fast. I’m very pleased.

-- Days in the shop don't count toward the total.

I prefer Makita .I do not know to Panasonic.

-- jeanmarc manosque france

Thank you all for your comments so far. Seems like a lot of people like the Makita. Not too many have used the Panasonic much though, right? Does anyone have experience with the Panasonic Li-Ion stuff? Know anyone who has them?

Does anyone have any negative experience with either of these tools?

Jarrod, thanks for the note about Panasonic winning the comparison at Fine Homebuilding. I saw that they had done a test, but I’m not a subscriber, so I couldn’t see the details. Would you or anyone else mind summarizing their comments?

I had a makita 12 V with the lithium batteries and the batteries died in about 4 months. this was right after they came out so maybe there have been improvements. I also use cordless drills every day all day and generally run the snot out of em. I have 5 or 6 panasonic drills [no impact drivers] 2 of them are at least 5 years old. they all still run and they all still hold a charge very well with the exeption of 1 battery that gave up after 4 years of heavy use and one charger that gave up after 3-4 years. Mine get charged and run completely dead ever couple of days and sometimes everuday depending on the work load. I would recomend them highly. YMMV….

skeez

-- hey honey! watch this!

I’ve been using Panasonic drills for a little under 8 years. I have 3—2 drills and an impact driver. I got one drill free through a rebate Panasonic had, and all the batteries are of course interchangeable.

They’re great. The brush on the first one just gave out a few months ago; haven’t yet gotten it fixed. And the batteries are now nearing the end of their lifespan. I see no need to get anything else next time around. They’ve been extremely dependable and a pleasure to use. I think only 2-3 times in all that time have I had to break out a corded drill (Milwaukee). And recently I’ve been using a Bosch i-Driver for assembly, but only because I’ve had occasions where an articulating head was very helpful.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d absolutely pick the Panasonics, but I’d give the new Bosch 12Vs a good look. But buy a brand that will be around for a while; having multiple batteries which can switch between units is extremely useful.

Thanks very much Skeez and Narayan. I think I’m pretty close to a decision, and I think it will probably be the Panasonics.

Hi. Saw your post and just wanted to tell you I just bought an Hitachi refurbished combo set from the Hitachi web site on the used(refurbished) tools site. The DV-DL 18v (2) 3.0 lithium bat. charger, reciprocating saw, bag and manual for about 1/3 of the retail price. It came down to the Makita drill and this drill. I really like it! It looked like new as far as I could tell and it works great! Powerful and perfectly balanced for me. Batteries interchange for future tools too! Sturdy belt clip with a built in light that is very cool and handy when needed. Has 4 power settings and a Jacobs chuck which is what really sold me. Good luck with whatever you get.

-- Bill, S.E. Iowa

I ordered the Panasonic set today, folks. Thanks everyone for your input. I’ll let you know what I think of them in a few weeks.

Best,
Todd

You did well. Sorry I didn’t see this question earlier, but here’s my .02 anyway.
I was part of an impact driver comparison article for Canadian Home Workshop magazine. Myself, along with Steve Maxwell and Gary Walchuck put most of the major brands through thier paces in a true head to head shootout. Everybody scored differently, but the pick for top tool was unanimous: The Panasonic.

Enjoy!

Ryan

-- If you can't set a good example, at least serve as a horrible warning... www.rarewoodcreations.com

Good. Thanks for your .02, Ryan. I’ll put it in my pocket and save it for a rainy day.

Todd