Happy to ... But you'd hate the prices!

with aussie prices i suspect more than a flight to germany to fetch 1 lol

Just a thought .... Timberwolf Tools does sell some Protool gear http://timberwolftools.com/tools/protool/protool.html

It may be worth seeing if they can get their hands on cordless drills for you at a reasonable price.

Just a little background for you guys.  I am a plumber by trade and the reason why I am looking at Festool/Protool is that my 4 year old Panasonic 14.4 drill passed on to the afterlife.  This cordless drill has never really impressed me, but it works.  I really like the Panasonic impact driver that came with my set.  For being four years old, it is still a top notch tool with 3.0 Ah batteries and a brushless motor.  I have replaced my impact housing twice because of falls on concrete, the second drop not being that high.  So now I am looking to invest in something more robust and while the Festool drills look great, for my kind of work I would like durability (Protool) over precision (Festool). 
Being a plumber, I am always drilling through studs, joists, floors, and siding with either self-feeding bits, hole saws, or auger bits.  It would be nice to not have to haul around my heavy Milwaukee SuperHawg  for all of the tough drilling. 

I have a buddy that had the same Panasonic and switched to the Protool.  He bought it while on vacation in Prague.  Said he had to have a few drinks before he handed over the $800 for a drill.  He then carried a systainer around Europe for two weeks.

The drill is awesome in every single way, other than price.  I don't know if the bump in price along with difficulty in obtaining the drill is worth it over the T18.  I am sure there are a few people that abuse their Fes drills who can attest to their durability.   

I have the Milwaukee SuperHawg that I rarely need for those REALLY tough jobs, it certainly gets the job done but you better have the extended pipe handle screwed in and even with that it can give you a ride...  

I can't disagree with that.  The metal housing around the chuck screams business. 

It doesn't have a light on it though.  I wish my T15 had a light...

That was the reason I didn't keep the T18 I'd purchased, no light - got a C15+Ti15 instead and decided to get the big Protool later ... then came the news of the update with a light!

(the T18 I got came with that stupid little add on light ... piece of rubbish that)

I never had a light on a drill / driver until I got a CXS - now I think it's silly not to have a light.

Have you guys ever checked out DeWalt's Hole Hawg Kilelr.  Or at least their attempt at the killer.  It never took off here, in the North East.  Milwaukee just has the name.

But, the DeWalt has some sort of safety gyroscope tech in it that turns the motor off when the drill is on and then deviates 10 or 15 degrees from the original position in which it was turned on (trigger depressed).  It's VERY cool and it works.  It does not need 180 degree rotation, or even 90 degree rotation, for the clutch / motor to cut out, nor does it need to feel any torque.  Simply just needs to move a bit and she shuts down.

No probably about it, prices here are so high it makes your hair bleed. 

Think 200 to 300% higher than the US... $23 sandpaper is $72, a $21 router bit is $83.... Makes me think there might be a heck of an opportunity for us Aussies to do a collective buy deal with a trusted US member and do a bulk order and ship.  We can split it up when it arrives.... Think about it, just getting the 50 to 180 Rubin range would drop the price from $250 odd to about $110....

Wayne,

I know what you mean.  I had a Hole Hawg before.  The Super Hawg is about twice as powerful and feels very different.  It also gets into much tighter spots.  That's why I moved up to it.

Protool in the UK is very small still!   Protool/Festool told my dealer its because Festool isnt big enough in the UK yet for them to justify expanding the Protool business in the UK soo they said untill they are happy with the growth of the Festool range they wont be making any effort in pushing the Protool Range in the UK.   

Maybe its the same in the USA

hmmm not that I know much about selling and marketing tools but that doesn't seem that logical to me:

 "We don't sell much protool so until we do we're not going to focus on selling protool?!"

I know there are a lot of costs involved distributing and marketing so entering a new market would be expensive but Protool has many models that would have cost a fortune to develop I would have thought it worth it. Not to mention one would think there are a lot more people spending money on construction tools like Protool than woodworking tools like Festool.

I really can't see how it would be hard for them to just put protocol in the dealers that want it too

Sorry JMB i wasn't trying to sound like I was putting words in your mouth. Just making a silly quote to show how I thought Festools reasoning sounded silly to me. And it is not that I don't believe you are correct in why they are not pushing Protool in the UK.

I guess I simply agree with you and DeanSocial- Protool would compliment Festool very well and how difficult or expensive would it be to start selling them in stores that carry Protool?

Like I said I am naive to the finer details of tool sales I just figured if a company goes to all the trouble of making tools sending them to stores so consumers can buy them seems like the easy and cheap part. Dunno.

Down in Oz we get a really good range of Protool gear ... on features the Protool cordless drills should be more expensive than Festool -  but they're not.

Shhhh !!  . Things are expensive enough already.

That distribution model really surprises me!

One thing you have to keep in mind is that a retailer has to be "sold" a proposition to put stuff on their shelves ... most may see stocking Protool as something that would only take sales from their others brands ... so "why bother". This is where the expense comes in - marketing the brand in the channel ... Trained reps, localised marketing material, demo equipment, merchandising displays and so forth.