Customer Reviews

Hitachi D10VH 6 amp 3/8-Inch Drill with Keyless Chuck

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this drill so that I would have a nice, solid, powerful electric drill to augment my somewhat low-end but very useful cordless. I'm very happy with this drill. One of my favorite things, and something I hadn't thought about, is the quality of the keyless chuck. One revolution of the chuck just barely moves the three bit grips. So compared to my other drill it takes many more twists to go from fully open to fully closed. But the resulting grip on the bit is much tighter than I get with my other drill that requires fewer twists. I think that's fantastic to have that kind of tightening power on the bits.

The balance and heft of the unit are perfect for me. It's billed as a lightweight unit and it is fairly light (but not too light).

So while I like the Hitachi a lot and can recommend it, there is one that seems to have a couple of unique features for about the same price. If you're in the market for this caliber of drill you should also look at the Dewalt D21008K. Its specs are very similar to the Hitachi but it has two nice features. A belt hook and two built-in levels (horizontal and vertical). It gets good reviews and I think if I had to do it over again I would go with the Dewalt instead, but only because of those two features mentioned.

I've owned my drill for a little over a year. I bought it to use with my Kreg jig, which recommends the use of a high-speed drill for making pocket screw holes. I am very pleased with the drill. It is powerful, well made, well balanced, and has an excellent gripping surface. The keyless chuck is also handy and grips bits extremely well. I never realized how much better a high-speed drill (2500 rpm) works than a typical drill-driver for simply drilling holes. When compared to my DeWalt 14.4 volt cordless drill(also an excellent tool in its own right)when drilling holes, there is simply no match. The higher speed provides less slippage of the bit on the surface to be drilled and bores a cleaner hole much more quickly. Also, although I enjoy the benefits of a cordless drill, the corded nature of this drill ensures constant power without any reduction in drilling capability. The only downside is that it is a drill and not a drill-driver. If you want to turn in screws with the same tool this is not the right one for you. But, if you are looking for a true hole-drilling machine, I highly recommend this drill.

I purchased one of these reconditioned to replace my Dewalt DW106 that was used as the "family" drill. I have a 3/8" Milwaukee 0233-20 Holeshooter that is my main high speed drill that the other family members are not allowed to use because they tend to misplace or lend things. The Hitachi DV10VH is compact, well built, and powerful as is typical of Hitachi power tools with a 5 year waranty. It probably is the best buy right now for a mid line 3/8" high speed drill. The higher end commercial quality drills are about twice as much or more and the Hitachi is much better that the typical B&D or Skil "consumer" drills.

However there are a couple things about it that I want to mention. First it is noisy in a couple ways. When you let up on the trigger switch it makes a rackety noise before it comes to a stop [I don't know if they are all like that]. I think it may have something to to with the chuck and I can live with that. When on full speed it is high pitched like a dentist's drill. I don't think I could use it as a drill I would be using a lot like at least a couple hours a week. My main gripe with the Hitachi D10VH is the trigger switch/speed control. The one I have is not linear at all. It does not take much pressure to put it into full speed which would make it next to useless to drive screws or finely controlled drilling. The trigger switch on my Milwaukee Holeshooter is a dream to use with great control over speed of the drill but again such a drill is at least twice as much.

If you can live with what I describe as the shortcomings of the DV10H [at least mine] you should be very happy with it. The Hitachi D10VH does not seem to have much competition within it's price range right now. The lower priced Bosch, Makita, and Dewalt drills get medicore reviews on Amazon. I do like my Dewalt DW106 [which I was able to repair] better that the Hitachi DV10VH primarily because of the better speed trigger control and lack of like noises but that is a discontinued model and I have not tried the current models. I also want to mention that any of the 3/8" high speed drills are primarily good only for drilling smaller holes in wood and metal. You can use them to drill about 1" holes in wood with a spade bit and up to about 1.5 inches with a hole saw. This is the most that many will ever need to do. If you have the need to drill large holes in wood or use auger bits be sure to use a slower speed drill such as the 850 RPM drills available from the popular manufactures. Also a decent set of drill bits will make all the difference with any drill.

I bought this drill to provide more power than my cordless drills yet be lighter than my half inch corded drills. It has more than adequate power. Drills holes for pocker screws with ease. And is easy to operate with one hand. Another plus is the storage case. It has room to store bits when taking the drill on the road and is large enough that the cord goes in easily.

SEE UPDATE BELOW

Returned 2 of these for the identical issue. Speed adjusts from either barely turning to full speed with nothing in between. Locking the trigger back gets you full speed ONLY. Try it on yours. The trigger is strange. A neat trick for any drill is to buy a 3/8" drill and get a 1/2" chuck made for adapting straight onto the drill. You can now run anything with it. But this Hitachi does not seem to have a replaceable chuck.

UPDATE: January 2008

A few months after the last review and after speaking with the several Hitachi techs, the chuck change is solved but the mystery trigger has no solution. I stayed with it because I really wanted this drill to happen.

This chuck IS replaceable, just like all others in the world. The torque used to apply the factory 3/8" chuck is beyond anything you've ever imagined. I've never seen anything like it. It took a mini-sledge and the destruction of an allen wrench to back this chuck off. Without Hitachi's reassurances I would have never applied that kind of torque to a chuck this size. When you trash a big fat 3/8" allen wrench to back off a chuck then that's a little much. NOW I could attach a Jacobs 1/2" chuck.

I finally got what I was after. With the RARE feature of a 3/8" drill being threaded for a side handle, I had an ultra compact 1/2" drill WITH a side handle. Believe me, I've looked. This Hitachi was the solution. I didn't need heavy duty, just the other features. The mystery trigger will have to be overlooked.

We use the Hitachi D10VH Drill almost daily for the past 3 years in our small business, mostly to stir thick silicone using a paint mixxer attachment but also to drill holes in wax and mettal.

This is a real bargin for a fairly powerfull and dependable drill. The variable speed control is great since too much speed when using a mixxer attachment would cause a real mess! Changing bits and attachments is quick and easy using the keyless chuck. In addition, it has a nice long cord, so we don't need to mess with an extention cord for most jobs.

A good basic drill that has lasted a long time with a lot of use. If this one dies, I'll buy another one. Highly recommended!

I picked this drill over similiar price DeWalt 3/8" 7 Amps Pistol Grip Tradesman Drill and Skil 1/2" 7-Amp Variable Speed Drill because of the lightness and compact design of Hitchi D10VH. DeWalt felt too heavy or weight is at the drill tip. The Skill gave you a front handle grip, but most time you drill with one hand and guide with the other. The D10VH weighted center of balance is move back toward the handle, so you will get less hand fatigue. I didn't even know they made drill until I saw one at Lowes. The drill was easy to use, with variable speeds on pressure and you can also control the speed with the dial at the finger trigger which the others don't have (just pressure variable speeds). The keyless chuck works fine and the drill bits that came with it was nice.

Overall this a very good product at an afforable price. that will do most household works. I didn't like the green color scheme at first, but that isn't an issues anymore.

I like this drill a lot. Mine does variable speed, but the only quirk I found is that if I push the "stop" button, the speed slows down. I don't know if maybe the stop button doesn't grip the trigger as tightly and it slips a bit when pushed.

Other than that, I like the high speed, power and the easy holes I get. The carrying case is nice also and quite roomy.

I think it's a good value, and the cord is long enough for me.

I bought this drill in early summer 2009 and have been using it quite regularly for weekend projects around the house. I found the drill to be quite well built and rugged. It is a very well balanced drill and quite powerful. A great deal for the price. There are two issues I have with the drill, both of which have been addressed by other reviewers;

1. The high pitched noise when the drill gets going can be quite annoying during extended use.

2. I don't see the point of having a speed control in this drill. The speed dial is extremely non-linear and you either get extremely slow or full speed with hardly any graduation in between.

A while back I had to purchase a corded drill beacause I got tired of not having enough battery power for large projects. This drill is a great buy for the price. It is very versatile (especially with a quick change bit that you can get in other hitachi drill bit kits) I use it for just about all my home improvement projects sheetrock, framing, finishing, you name it. This tool has an easy to access direction switch that you don't need to remove your hand from the drill to operate. A wide range of rpm along with a lockout dial to only allow the chuck to spin so fast is a great feature too. I highly recommend this tool if you are looking for a good all around drill that will last you for a long time.