I burned out the drill from my old 18V DeWalt XRP about 3 weeks ago...this morning the impact followed it into the trash. What are you all using these days? Seems most of the electricians I see doing a lot of rough-in are running Milwaukie drills- are they worth the premium over DeWalt? What about Bosch and Makita?

Milwaukee

Yes

Yes, Definitely

personally i use dewalt heavily. They bought the milwaukee fuels at my other job. They suck imho. My dewalt 20v is better in so many aspects.

The 18v dewalt stuff I have no interest in however. Gotta buy the good 20v stuff. They make cheap 20v drills/etc too but obviously like anything ya get what you pay for. Lean toward the higher end dewalt stuff and you shouldn't be disappoint.

I've converted everything over to Milwaukee.  I think the brushless Fuel tools are very good with much more power and cooler operation than my previous non-Fuel tools.

Don't overlook the little 12v tools... the Fuel versions can handle more than you might think.  I have a 12v Fuel driver and hammer drill and they're what I use most (aside from heavy rough-in work where I pull out the 18v stuff).

Rigid - lifetime warranty

LOL

Whatever you get, don't get a tool in a bag. You'll never be able to look in it and see what accessories or junk is in there. It must bave a hard box.

All Milwaukee here - adding their fine tool and grinder soon.

Paul - I'm looking to add a 12v driver to my tech bag, which one do you like? I have the 18v impact and drill but want something lighter for my tech bag

Get the Milwaukee. 3 year warranty. Can use the same charger.

We have tons of DeWalt 20v. No issues. Drills, blowers, lights, grinders, blah blah. Too deep to change now lol.

ALWAYS looks at the amp/hours when choosing batteries. The lower ones just dont last long per charge.

Dewalt 20v here. Never had an issue so far. I have the higher end impact and hammerdrill.

Even dropped the impact from my 8' ladder and only bent the philips bit a little. No problem with the impact at all.

I also have the compact reciprocating saw, circular saw, oscillating saw. all brushless and the batteries work great.

I don't like the 12v anything cause I like to set my impact down on the battery standing up on it's own.

I've been a Makita fan. My combo 18v Drill and Impact kit has been working fine for 4 years now.

Right here:

[Link: makitatools.com]

18v brushless power in a compact 12v size. I have the impact/drill combo and they are my most favorite tools ever. I can't say enough good things about them.

Plus you can use any of the larger lxt batteries on them like the 4.0aH ones for even more run time. I haven't found anything these little guys can't do.