So yesterday I decided to finally bite the bullet and get me a new small drill driver to replace my ageing Makita that has had a hard life and batteries that lasted too short a time.
So I had a look at the CXS again. Once again confirming my previous conclusions that it was a little underpowered, a lot overpriced and didn't have a brushless motor which for the price, it should. Not to mention I didn't want to fall down the rabbit hole of centrotec and all the expense that comes with maintaining those ludicrously priced accessories. I wasn't going to be stupid and buy it just for the convenience/luxury of having it stack on the rest of my Festool systainers, nor was the little bit of extra comfort a big deal (we're men not mice, aren't we?).
So I had a look at Fein, Metabo, and Milwaukee.
The Fein 12v was a little too big, but did have a brushless motor and 4 speed gearbox, so compromising a little on size made it still a much better option than the CXS.
The Metabo was nice but not brushless, and didn't feel as good in my hand as I'd have liked, but was significantly cheaper than the Festool, so another contender.
Finally the Milwaukee, £65 cheaper than the Festool, with right angle chuck, offset chuck and 2 batteries. Not brushless but a that price point I wasn't too concerned and it was comfortable. Probably the best option for me, though felt a little cheap compared to the quality of their FUEL 18v tools I'm used to.
So I had a little think over a coffee and bought the Festool CXS. :
When I mulled it all over I didn't need any more power than the CXS could provide, I have a plethora of 18v combi drills, SDS and impact drivers for heavier duty stuff, 90% + of my drilling/screwing can be easily carried out with the CXS, despite it not winning top trumps on paper.
As for comfort, I do remember bemoaning my Makita that sometimes dug into the fleshy part between my thumb and index finger after prolonged use, so maybe I was more concerned with comfort than initially gave credit to.
Then there were the cases, cheap blow moulded cases that would just rattle around in transit from place to place, not really having a dedicated home. I recalled my recent purchase of a Trend router (which incidentally is brilliant) but the cheap blow moulded case drove me round the bend and I ended up springing £60 for a grey coloured T-Loc systainer to keep it in. So maybe having the Systainer wasn't just a luxury.
So there you go, I'm Bob and I'm stupid. Just prey to god they don't bring out a brushless version in the next few months. [big grin]
So I had a look at the CXS again. Once again confirming my previous conclusions that it was a little underpowered, a lot overpriced and didn't have a brushless motor which for the price, it should. Not to mention I didn't want to fall down the rabbit hole of centrotec and all the expense that comes with maintaining those ludicrously priced accessories. I wasn't going to be stupid and buy it just for the convenience/luxury of having it stack on the rest of my Festool systainers, nor was the little bit of extra comfort a big deal (we're men not mice, aren't we?).
So I had a look at Fein, Metabo, and Milwaukee.
The Fein 12v was a little too big, but did have a brushless motor and 4 speed gearbox, so compromising a little on size made it still a much better option than the CXS.
The Metabo was nice but not brushless, and didn't feel as good in my hand as I'd have liked, but was significantly cheaper than the Festool, so another contender.
Finally the Milwaukee, £65 cheaper than the Festool, with right angle chuck, offset chuck and 2 batteries. Not brushless but a that price point I wasn't too concerned and it was comfortable. Probably the best option for me, though felt a little cheap compared to the quality of their FUEL 18v tools I'm used to.
So I had a little think over a coffee and bought the Festool CXS. :
When I mulled it all over I didn't need any more power than the CXS could provide, I have a plethora of 18v combi drills, SDS and impact drivers for heavier duty stuff, 90% + of my drilling/screwing can be easily carried out with the CXS, despite it not winning top trumps on paper.
As for comfort, I do remember bemoaning my Makita that sometimes dug into the fleshy part between my thumb and index finger after prolonged use, so maybe I was more concerned with comfort than initially gave credit to.
Then there were the cases, cheap blow moulded cases that would just rattle around in transit from place to place, not really having a dedicated home. I recalled my recent purchase of a Trend router (which incidentally is brilliant) but the cheap blow moulded case drove me round the bend and I ended up springing £60 for a grey coloured T-Loc systainer to keep it in. So maybe having the Systainer wasn't just a luxury.
So there you go, I'm Bob and I'm stupid. Just prey to god they don't bring out a brushless version in the next few months. [big grin]
