I bought a Dewalt DCD771C2 20V MAX Cordless Lithium-Ion 1/2 inch Compact Drill Driver Kit. This is the WORST drill I have ever owned. I am going to return it. The batteries die within 15 minutes, and the chuck comes loose all the time.

I am looking for a pro lightweight cordless drill for everyday use for drilling & driving. I do not need the hammer feature as I already have hammer drills.

What brand/model is best? I know this is subjective, but the drill I have now is horrible, and that's a fact.

Thanks.

Milwaukee.

+1

Which model of Milwaukee?

I was looking at the Makita too. I've had dewalt forever, but after this last one I want to get the best.

Not just Milwaukee, but Milwaukee Fuel which his their brushless motor series.

I think the milwaukees are piles. Used a new one a bit just recently it absolutely sucks compared to the dewalts imho. Used one of their new cordless cutoff grinder tools too recently and man the battery life was god awful compared to my dewalt and the dewalt was designed nicer as well. Only thing I own milwaukee is their Pex expander tool. Everything else is dewalt and I am real happy with the stuff. I've been so impressed with their compact drills. Their newest one def improves on the old. The increased power is impressive as hell for a compact drill. The 3 diff flashlight modes are handy and being brushless the runtime is just incredible.

Anyways I had that exact dewalt for years and it was unstoppable. Best drill i had ever owned until I replaced it with their newest brushless model. [Link: dewalt.com]

Never had issues with the chuck. The small compact battery lasted for quite a bit for me too. Not sure why you are having issues. I abused the piss out of it and it just kept going and going. Dropped it from good heights on accident too a few times.

+1

Not only have they been great drills (we have 2 sets of the 18v hammer drill and impact driver combos and almost every 12v piece they make) but when we had one drill with a bad trigger, they fixed it no cost. And when we had an older 18v drill (not a fuel) that we burnt up with 1" x 12" auger bits on rough ins, they refurbed it at no cost. It literally had sparks and smoke coming out of the vents.

One thing to be aware of with Dewalt if you are looking at their stuff. They have contractor grade models and retail grade models. Be careful buying their stuff that's for sale in Lowes.

Bosch Brushless 12 Volt.

I use this drill for 99.9 percent of everything I do. I have dropped it off ladders onto concrete pads, done small pre-wires with it, used it as a hammer, used it as a prybar....., etc... etc... etc...

Add the 4 Amp battery and you get even more torque and more runtime than you will know what to do with.


[Link: amazon.com]

[Link: amazon.com]

Fins' note is the critical key. Both Milaukeee and DeWalt have consumer grade stuff and contractor grade stuff. Simply, buy the most expensive one, and you will be getting the quality stuff that will work and last. I have had a DeWalt for probably 10 years, that gets new switches, batteries, transmissions… But it keeps on going. I actually like it because the plastic case houses three batteries and all kinds of bits. A lot of the new ones come with bags, and my truck is organized using lots of tight spaces.

For smaller work, I purchased a 12 V Milwaukee set with drill, impact driver, and multi tool. This is an amazing set.

I've experienced excellent results with Hitachi, brushless.

the Milwaukee Fuel 12V stuff is awesome. I have a drill and impact and use them for for everything except rough-ins. I have a 18V Fuel drill for rough-ins.

Milwaukee 12V Fuel Drill, Impact Kit
[Link: homedepot.com]

matched with a Milwaukee 12V 4 Amp Battery
[Link: homedepot.com]

on a side note, and if you do any drilling into concrete or brick, this 12V SDS Rotary Hammer is awesome [Link: homedepot.com]

I matched it up with the 12V HammerVac [Link: homedepot.com] for times i need to keep the dust to a minimum.

I think Milwaukee has some of the best cordless tools on the market.

Has anybody tries these, they kick ass, batteries last a long time. I have been beating mine up for a couple years now and they just keep going.

[Link: blinq.com]

I have a bunch of Dewalt 18 volt XRP's that I've used for years without issues

I recently made the move to the 20 volt XR line with great expectations.

I'm pretty happy so far with the vac,impact,jigsaw,sawzall,oscillating multi tool,and compact DCD791B.

My DCD996B bigger drill is currently in the shop for a warranty repair.

After 5 months of use,it died while drilling a couple dozen 1/2" holes through 8" of concrete.

I had to dig out my old 18vlt DCD950 to finish the job.

Battery life is pretty good overall.

Better than the 18 volt.

Your problem may be that you bought a lower end drill for work OR DeWalt isn't what it use to be.

Time will tell.

tca,
Like others have hinted at, Dewalt has 2 main lines. The one you bought is the crap model. I would not piss on that thing.
The models you want to look at are in the XL series. It is also easy to tell them apart from the full metal housing & gearing upfront. Also the XL logo. If you get extra batteries make sure to get XL series batteries as well.

If you want a small compact one, you will want the DCD791D2
[Link: amazon.com]

They are 2x the price of that POS you bought, for a reason. They are awesome.