Hey guys

I am a new member, I came across this site as I was trying to find information on the Festool CXS and C12 drills.

I am an Electrician, here in Ontario Canada

I am looking for the ultimate drill, I have owned and tried every other brands of compact drills, there are things I dislike about all of them. I have never tried a festool drill, I went to see them in store and I really liked the cxs. I am trying to see if the price is justifiable.

What the drill must do:
Be lightweight, it's on and off my belt all day.
It must be able to survive construction environment. (rural/residential/farm).
It must have a light on it, (preferably that stays on for seconds).
It must be able to work even if it gets cold outside. (I understand no drills like -30.C. When it's that cold, I use my 18v)
It has to drive 1in, 1.5in and 2in screws repetitively.
It will be fastening a lot of #1 and #2 machine screws?. (#6, #8)

The cxs seemed to have an awesome trigger, I really liked it.

I am wondering if the brushless motor from the c12 is a must have?

Looking for opinions in general. This drill is going to take a beating. I must say that my makitas and milwaukees have never been destroyed on the job. I have busted up some dewalts, hitachis, ridgid...


What is the general consensus?

The closer to 2 lbs the better. Under 3 a must.

I thought the CXS was the only drill in the Festool line that was not Brushless.

Vijay

Unless light weight is paramount, I would go with the C12 or C15 just for the brushless motor, torque, electronic clutch  and battery life. Although keep in mind you could buy 1 CXS kit, plus a second CXS for backup for less than the price of a single C12 kit.

Shane is dead on though. Just buy one - probably the CXS - if it meets your needs, keep it, if not, return it.

I can tell you the electronics in the Festool drills are tough and I don't worry about them at at all in me two T15 drills.  I once forgot one of my drills outside in a downpour, that drill still works perfectly fine more than seven months later.  I work in some pretty nasty jobsites and my drills regularly see plaster, saw and drywall dust, no problems.  Just today my drills spent most of the afternoon in amongst rat feces, so I think you can tell I don't baby them.

As an electrician, the feature that will make any of these drills a must-have for you will be the right-angle drive attachment.

I am not a professional, but I do all of my own electrical work on my houses (we're allowed to, with permit & inspection, here in Madison).
I use the CXS for 99% of that work.  It meets all of your criteria, is incredibly light, compact, powerful, and has the right angle chuck.

However, are you going to be able to drill 3/4" holes through floor joists with a self-feed auger bit in the CXS?  No.  You would be able to drill those holes using a normal brad point or twist bit, but it will take a bit of time.

So if the speed and torque for this type of purpose are of primary importance for you and you want only one drill, unfortunately the CXS won't be it.
A T-18 or C-15 would be great choices.

Like Mr. Junkie, I do a lot of electrical work at times. If it's new construction, most of the time, you can drill a stud with a full-size Festool C or T drill using a self-feed bit straight on. Sometimes, the studs are too close together and the Right-Angle Chuck is indispensable.

If I'm crawling around in an attic, being able to switch to a right-angle configuration without having to carry 2 drills is really important. I've drilled a lot of studs and plates with the NiCd C12 and never really had a problem. I'm not sure I would want to crawl 50' through an attic with only my CXS. It's a powerful drill for its size but...

Another nice thing about crawling in tight spots with Festool drills is the ability to easily and quickly change bits/drivers without carrying much.


Tom

Well then, taking big drilling out of the equation then, IMHO, the CXS is gonna be a peachy addition to your toolbelt.    
Order a TwinBox also.  Substitute a few Robertson #1 and #2's in there, and you're all set for most anything.

Brice you need to find better job sites 

Seth

You don't want to be breathing any of the dust from rodent droppings.  There was some outbreak of some disease in the 90's associated with breathing the dust from rodent droppings.  I don't remember the name of the disease.  I think people were dying within a few days.

- Hantavirus - was the name of it.

For drilling bigger holes the cxs isn't going to do it, BUT it is my go to drill for most of my screwing and small diameter drilling. I personally can't see how anyone could pass it up. The ultimate tight space drill IMO

i am an electrical contractor in southern california.

in my experience, you need a single drill.

T-18

it's US $625. suck it up, and buy it.

i took 5 drills off my truck that were replaced with this.
including a Milwaukee hole shooter, 1/2"

i've never ran a battery down yet in a day.

the right angle attachment will simply blow your mind.

now, if festool would get it together, and release the
18 volt carvex in the US, i could get rid of my sawzall.

I think I'm going to +1 to the poster who suggested considering an impact driver in this situation.

Mine is a Ryobi, but regardless of brand, for driving tough screws it just does a much better job than most drills, while still being small and light.  I just checked and the Ryobi is apparently just a bit under 3 lbs, I'm guessing w/o the battery.

They are noisy, though...


Note that I do love my (older version) C12 as well.  It's great for most things, including most screws, but if I (rarely) run into screws that it chokes on, the impact driver will get them practically every time.

Since you already have other drills that you are using to make holes...