Looking to buy a drill - any recommendations

[Azalea]

I am a drill newbie, so any advice welcome.

[Loz]

Cordless are very good for general DIY work, but try and buy a kit that has an extra battery.

Buy a decent brand (Bosch, Black and Decker) - I've bought cheapies before and the batteries die very quickly.

Get a two speed, for drilling and screwing. (Fnarr.)

[Jeremy]

I think you really need two drills - a smaller cordless drill for screwdriving and drilling wood. And a corded hammer drill for masonry.

If you're anything like me the smaller drill will end up getting used much more, so go for something decent, preferably with two batteries. I'd fork out a little extra for something good like a Makita, DeWalt, or Hitachi.

Then for the hammer drill, something mid-range like Bosch or Black & Decker at around the ?40 mark should do the job.

[Salsaboy]

You get what you pay for. For ?40 you'll get a piece of crap. I have a cordless Makita hammer drill/driver and a cordless Makita impact driver for screwing. Both take the same battery - 18v 4ah. The higher the ah rating, the more grunt you get. Mine cost just under ?400 as a set but I am a tradesman and they are used everyday. I also have a mains powered Makita SDS for really hard walls.

Anything by Black & Decker, Elu, Hitachi, in fact anything you can get in Homebase and B&Q are ok if you only need to use them once a year.

[Jeremy]

Well, the combo of a cheaper mains powered hammer drill and a smaller-but-better drill/driver works for me. In fact I've had my ?40 Bosch hammer drill for 15 years, and it's seen a lot of use (ask my neighbours). I won't hear a word against it!

[DulwichFox]

My old (Mains) Black & Decker Drill with Hammer still going after 25-30 years..

Powerful for most domestic uses..

I have a Wickes battery drill / driver ok for outdoor use (garden). Lacks torque but ok for

wood screws for fencing / decking.

DulwichFox

[Lowlander]

I've got a 10 year old B&Q own brand cordless which is still going strong.

No hammer function but I've fitted a kitchen, bathroom and easily drilled through brick and masonry with it. Was about ?40 in 2005.

Also get decent drill bits, I got a set of Black and Decker ones at the same time and they're great.

If you're an infrequent user and will always have easy access to a plug socket then buy a mains powered one it will probably outlast you...

[Azalea]

Oh, thank you all. Never thought of buying a cordless one.