Any of those three brands is great, but I'd pass on the Ryobi. It's a lesser quality machine. Notthing wrong with it per se, but you will never be disappointed with any of the other three. Particularly the Milwaukee or Makita.

Ryobi has its place. I have a lawn mover, string trimmer, hedge clipper, and chain saw that run off 40v Ryobi. They do the job.

I also have a Ryobi portable table saw I use to take up on roofs for shingling sidewalls. If it falls off the roof, no big.

When it comes to anything sawzall-like, just buy the Sawzall.

I do have a Makita cordless sawzall I use for ladder work.

When you need it corded, Milwaukee.

quote:

I have the Milwaukee Super Sawzall:

Amazon link

It's best feature is a counterbalance mechanism that decreases vibration and it really works.

I shopped far & wide and actually ran all the major contenders on the market at the time, and THIS MODEL gave me superior comfort and smoothness.

I've been using it regularly on home projects for about 20 years with zero problems.

In spite of my prior criticisms of Ryobi and Harbor Freight, I would also add that there really is a cost/utlity trade-off, and I have sometimes been truly surprised by Harbor Freight.

On electric tools, such as sanders and drills, I have literally bought them as use-once items, and maybe they lasted another job or two before they died. So I just threw them away, and they had been so inexpensive that it was no big deal and still a good value.

When I did my entire house in nail-down hardwood flooring, I was looking at high-end pneumatic floor nail guns for about $700; but then I noticed that the Harbor Freight unit was EXACTLY THE SAME TOOL with a different nameplate riveted in place, for $129. So I bought and used it and it has functioned flawlessly. This was all about 15 years ago, and I notice that recent prices have actually dropped quite a bit for all of them. I guess competition really works.

After reading all of your replies, I headed over to The Home Depot this morning to check things out and lo and behold, in their parking lot sets a Milwaukee truck. Long story short, I walked out with. ..

M18 2-Tool Combo Kit $279
1/2" Drill
Impact Driver
Charger
4.0Ah Battery Pack
2.0Ah Battery pack

M18 Cordless Recip Saw (No Charge)
5.0Ah Battery Pack (No Charge)
(2) 6" Carbide Tooth Blades (No Charge)

No Charge items...a $275 Value

It was time for a new drill but the really didn't need the impact driver. The Milwaukee guy told me to check back in a year and he bets that I will have used the impact more than the rest.

well I hope you're happy

quote:

Originally posted by P229 357SIG Man:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Why does it have to be corded? I've yet to find a task my Dewalt 20v hasn't been able to handle. I detest taking out extension cords then having to put them away.

Except for my cordless drill, all of my tools are corded. I don't use them all that often anymore, it could be years before I use the saw again and by then I figure the battery will have likely gone bad.

Meant to comment on this, earlier.

This is precisely my attitude. I've had too many cordless devices die, only to find batteries are nearly as expensive as replacing the tools. That strikes me as just plain wasteful, so homey don't do that no more.

I've got a Hitachi drill/driver combo because I learned that, for drill motors, battery power delivers far more power than can AC in the same size package. And a little Milwaukee Fuel 12v drill/driver for light jobs. Everything else is corded, and everything going forward will be corded.

Same with the lawn equipment. I see everybody getting high on battery-powered lawn equipment. And every time I see that the first thought is "And when the batteries die in 2-5 years?" Meanwhile my 29-year-old Shindaiwa string trimmer and 19-year-old Shindaiwa stick edger are still going strong.