I also worked for Home Depot back in the day. Dewalt was in Home depots back pocket. They were selling tools for less than they bought them for but making it up on accessories.
I will never buy a Ryobi since I saw one catch fire at a roadshow.
I bought my Makita years ago before their brushless model. It still kicks butt.
I wouldn't by a Bosch drill unless its the one with the metal chuck.
As far as batteries are concerned they are made I only 3 places as far as I know. At least that's what they said at the.roadshow years back.

I've used and abused Dewalt for years. 18v and now 20v. I've broken a few but considering the use(daily) they have held up very well. Seen a few drill/driver dropped from ladders and they all keep working.

Had the clutch in a drill go and recently brook the arm on an old 18V sawzaw but they hold up.

I don't think you can go wrong with Dewalt, Makita or Milwaukee. I like some of the other stuff out there but really don't want multiple batteries and chargers.

Now that I know Ryobi and Milwaukee are in the same family, here is the Black and Decker family:

DeWalt.
Porter-Cable.
Craftsman.
Emhart Teknologies.
Oldham Blades.
Black and Decker Firestorm.
Vector.
DustBuster.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
Home Depot sure pushes the Ryobi 18v One system. They have a 5 tool set for $199 that I may buy just to get the brad nailer.

Any love for the Ryobi?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ry...Tool-P1882/206349864

Nothing but love for the Ryobi 18v One+ system from me.

I have:
Drill
Air inflator (high pressure)
Leaf blower
Weed eater
Detail sander
Circular saw
Jig saw
Angle grinder
Brad nailer
Sawzall
LED work light
Bluetooth boom box
Flashlight
Wet/dry car vac

Also from their 40v line:
Lawn mower
Weed eater/tiller
Leaf blower

So happy with them that when my garage door opener went out, I replaced it with a Ryobi connected one that sends me notifications on opening and stay open over a set time period and uses one of the 18v batteries as power fail back up to allow use in event of outage.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Ryobi I place in about the same category as Black and Decker which I place in about the same rank as Harbor Freight which I rate about the same as no-name brand tools. I never give any of them a 2nd look. I've never seen a pro using any of them.

Guy who installed my garage door was a pro, from a company that does nothing by garage door installs and service. He was using Ryobi and said the whole company switched over. Had too many issues with their Makita stuff having to be repaired or replaced.

Admittedly it isn’t in the same class as Milwaukee or Makita but they are many steps above B&D or HF.

For an occasional home user, I think Ryobi hits a good balance of performance/cost and being able to use same batteries across everything is a huge plus.



As for their batteries, the NiCads were pretty crappy if you didn’t take care of them. That was more about the technology of the NiCad batteries than it was on Ryobi. With the lithium batteries, that problem is in the past. I’m using batteries that are 4-5 years old without issue. Still hold a charge and last as they should.