Festool combi drills & impact drivers

[R.W_Carpentry]

Hi guys, just joined , looking for peoples opinions on the new combi drill festool have just released in the uk.
Prior to this being released I'd been looking at renewing my old cordless kit and was looking into buying into one brand to keep batteries interchangeable, and had almost settled on dewalt for this, I'd then planned on slowly changing my corded stuff over to festool. The main reason for this however was that at the time festool didn't have much in the way of a combi to challenge the rest of the market, now the Quadrill has been released I'm thinking of going almost solely festool but how does this drill compare to the likes of hilti,bosch,dewalt etc? on paper the festool seems to have about the same torque range but ability of a higher rpm.
Secondly a drill and driver is one of my main tools, so if I went for the festool combi, what is festools best impact driver? preferably 18v.

 

[neeleman]

Here are my experiences with the Festool/Protool drills:
DRC/PDC 18
A very nice machine, the best I have, but may be a little heavy/large compared to other brands.
High speed is nice for drilling holes, the PDC has a hammer drill function for small holes, max. Ø10-12 mm, in brick or concrete which is nice but cannot replace a SDS hammer drill.
TI 15 Impact
Nice impact screwdriver, not the best out there, other machines are better, only 14,4V version.
They also call this machine a hybrid, because it can also drill holes with the help of the adapter which is supplied with the drill.
If you plan to use other Festool 14,4 V machines like a jigsaw the batteries are interchangeable.
T 12/15/18
Probably the most versatile drills from Festool, lightweight, good weight balance and long battery life.
BHC 18
This new SDS battery hammer drill was announced for this fall, but it has been delayed until 2014. I'm looking forward to this machine.

All batteries from Festool are interchangeable from low Voltage to a high Voltage machine.
So a 14,4V battery can be used in a 18V drill or jigsaw. And not the other way around.

Another good point of the Festool drills are the Centrotec (CE) chucks.
They come in various models such as Eccentric, Angled, Jacobs, Depth Stop or the CE tool holder which also holds the CE drills as well.
Although the DRC/PDC models have their own Angle chuck version and no Eccentric version exists. That has to do with the torque forces these machines can generate.
The TI 15 Impact also cannot use the CE chucks without the special adapter. And then it becomes a little out of balance, but it works.

These days many manufactures focus on the 18V range because it's the best of both worlds.
And some brands already have 5,2A batteries.
The DRC/PDC models were once available under the Protool brand in 12-14,4 and 18 V.
Now Festools only uses the 18V version under it's brand name.

 

[mrboult]

Festool only make 1 Impact Driver. The Ti15.  

I have never used one (I hate rattlers) but I think the general opinion is that Festool have not bettered the competition with this one.  Also, while it can be 'converted into regular drill mode - The power is poor, and not comparable to the standard T15 Drill.

Also the 14.4V batteries from a Ti15 will work on your 18v PDC Combi Drill, but not the other way around - Both use the same charger though.

Finally - The new Festool 18v Combi Drills are exactly like the older Pro-Tool PDC Drills that get very good reviews/recommendations.

(oops -  Poster above beat me to it with a better reply. . .)

 

[R.W_Carpentry]

Thanks for such a detailed reply, the combi sounds like what I'm after, would only be replacing another combi, have an sds anyway so small hammer function is fine and weight shouldn't bother me too much as I'm currently on old ni-cad stuff so I'm assuming it will still be a lot lighter than that anyway!
Maybe best to go for a different brand for the impact then, I have a few newer lith-ion dewalt stuff so may go for one of theirs, but think I'll definately go for the festool drill.
Is there any difference between the protool stuff and festool? or is it literally just re-labelled?

 

[Kev]

PDC18-4 is a beauty. I love mine.

The Ti15 impact is "fine" as long as you're not after the best impact (ultimate power) available. The upside is compatibility with the rest of the Festool stuff ... batteries,  chargers, systainers, centrotec and fantastic warranty and support. Downside ... price (but not relative to the likes of Hilti).

I'm expecting Festool to intro a meatier impact in the future.

 

[neeleman]

Festool DRC/PDC line are just relabelled Protool machines with a few cosmetic/functional changes:
- color orange went to green
- beltclip is silver now instead of black
- batteries went from 3 to 4,2 A