Customer Reviews

Hitachi DS18DSAL 18-Volt 1/2-Inch Drill/Driver

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My rating of five stars is actually a solid four stars in order to help make up for the undeserved two-star rating, which one reviewer gave.

I did a lot of research before buying this drill. It is well balanced, easy to control, and will drive just about any screw into anything and do it for a long, long time on each battery. It is a powerhouse with more torque (460 lbs.) for the buck than any other drill in its class. I have found that, for me, two 1.5 amp-hour batteries are better than one 3.0 amp-hour battery (which is available) in that the smaller battery is much lighter; and if you are working with the drill all day long, you will appreciate not having to carry around the extra weight. The 1.5 ah battery charges in less than half an hour (not in 15 minutes as claimed), so you are always ready to go.

However, there are a few minor cons: 1) No drill bit holder (You can install one yourself...I prefer a magnet.) 2) The kit comes with a useless flashlight, not even l.e.d. It would have been better to have added a few doo-dads to the drill, such as a level, instead of wasting the money on a flashlight. 3) No battery meter. 4) Comes with a belt holder, which is very sturdy; but I wouldn't trust what one might hang it on to...and then there is always the possibility of drilling a hole in your leg. I removed it. 5) The case for the kit measures 16" x 18" x 4" and would do justice as designer luggage or as an overnight airline carry-on ...another waste; and when was the last time you lugged around (or even kept) your work drill in its case? However, it is recyclable. 6) The charging light on the bare-bones charger is recessed in the top of the charger and can only be viewed by looking down on it. The charger also has a rather cryptic light readout.

With all these complaints, I wouldn't trade it for any of the other 9 drills (for under $200) I tried out. Why? It outperformed every one of them.

For the past two weeks, we have been reconstructing a small country house. I included the Hitachi and a good corded drill (just in case)in my tool kit. So far, I have yet to plug in the corded drill.

This tool is my first foray into the world of Hitachi. What attracted me most is the feel of the grip and the way the tool doesn't cant forward or backward very much when using it. It's well-balanced, and the motor housing is short which is helpful in tight spaces. The design is different from most other drills. The battery doesn't project into the handle, but instead, slides in like a sled. I do like the "press and drop" battery design of other tools, but this "press and slide" design is easy to get used to. The clutch settings do seem a bit lighter than other drills, but on the other hand, the lighter settings on the drill are very nice for doing delicate work like setting #6 pan head screws to 1/8-inch oak plywood without imbedding the pan into the plywood. I haven't tried driving #10 screws into oak without a pilot hole. Personally, I like to drill a pilot in hardwoods so I don't risk breaking the head off of the screw. A #10 of any length will go in hardwood just fine with a pilot hole drilled first.

Positives: light weight, small for tight spaces, ergonomic, lithium ion batteries, ease of drill bit lock-up in the chuck, LED work light, and a very nice carrying case.

Minus(?). My only concern is to echo a previous review...I had no idea when I bought the tool that it is the only one Hitachi makes at this time with this battery design. It is new. Though lithium ion batteries last a long time and they have no charge "memory," at some point (1,000 charge cycles or so) they need to be replaced. It would be more comforting if the battery was universal to the product line.

One more thing...why the flashlight? The carrying case could be made smaller without it.

Had to buy a new drill in the middle of putting up 5 tiers, 4 sections, warehouse wood shelving. The Dewalt 14.4v, which I liked, went up in smokes after 5 yrs. Bought this Hitachi without any research, and was not disappoint. This drill is very compact and light, lighter than my 12v Dewalt. The battery came out of the box already charged, ready to go, which I appreciated cause I didn't have time to wait for initial charge-up. Each 1.5A lit-ion battery lasted about the same as a Ni-Cad, but much lighter and slimmer. Recharged takes 15-20 minutes. At 460in-lb, it easily drives 2 1/4 screws and sometimes 3in ones I was using, and 2 1/2 masonry screws pre-drilled. Was initially very skeptical of the belt hook but turned out to be a very convenient feature and didn't drop the drill through a lot of movement up and down the ladder. The led light gives a good added feature to work under low lighting conditions like under the shelves.

The extra flashlight is something I don't plan to use and seems a useless extra that could be taken out of the package to save buyers money. The case is ridiculously big. I had to put out a little more money for a bag to carry the drill and charger.

The green color and the stupid design on the drill make the drill look like a toy, but the performance is far from being one. I highly recommend this drill for extensive use. It lessen the wrist fatigue with its light weight and gives you very good driving power.

THIS DRILL IS AWSOME I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE LAST REVIEW BUT I TOTALLY DISAGREE THIS DRILL HANDLES GREAT I USE IT FOR MASONARY DRILLING WICH IS CONCRETE AND IT WORKS AWSOME I'VE HAD IT FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS NOW AND IT IS STILL RUNNING STRONG THE LIFE IN THE BATTERIES ARE INCREADIBLE THEY SEEM TO LAST FOREVER I KNOW DRILLING THROUGH MASONARY HAS GOT TO BE TOUGHER THAN OAK AND THATS WHY I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH THE LAST REVIEW ALL I COULD SAY IS THAT FOR AS SMALL AND AS LIGHT AS IT IS BOY DOES IT PACK SOME POWER...

I bought this for woodworking. It is replacing a Milwaukee of similar size and specs. My Milwaukee batteries only lasted two years, but this is apparently average for Litium Ion. And, as everyone also knows, you can by the whole kit for a little more than two batteries cost. I will probably buy two more batteries for the Milwaukee later so I can have two drills. Hey, a man cannot have too many tools!
This Hitachi is similar to the Milwaukee. Only time will tell about build quality. I've learned through the years that a little flex here or there in a tool does not necessarily mean it won't last. This drill has a little more flex than the Makita or Milwaukee, but it still seems well-made. What I like about this drill (as with the Milwaukee and similar Makita) is the compact size. I am a woodworker and often must put screws in tight places (cabinets). This drill/driver has great power to weight/size ratio. I checked out all the brands and this one is the shortest 18V from front to back and top to bottom. Another important feature for a a serious woodworker is a smoothly funstioning ratchet. This one is consistent and smooth. The chuck also works very well.
I totally agree with what others said about the light and case. Skip the light, make the case smaller and put a bit holder on the drill.
About the charger: I've had several different brands of drills and never really needed all the fancy indicators. A light for charging and one for charged is all I need. It would be nice, as one reviewer stated, if the light was on the front so you could tell at a distance when it's charged. On my Milwaukee, I thought I would use the battery level indicator, but I never actually used it. In the real world, you use the battery until it dies and then swap out. One time I press the cute little indicator button and said to myself, "Oh, cute, the battery's half dead." Then I just went on using it. I suppose it would be nice to tell which of the batteries was charged when they are taken out of the case, but I don't use my drill like that.
People who do serious drilling shouldn't buy a small drill then complain about how it underperforms. That's why they make bigger models. It cracks me up when reviewers talk about drilling a bajillion holes in concrete and yet they bought a compact drill!
This drill works great for what it is designed: Woodworking and small to medium size projects. And, there is enough torque to do the occasional heavy drilling. I think there's plenty of power to build a deck with this as long as you have a corded hammer drill for any super heavy work.

You've read the other reviews about lot's of power, not too heavy, good "feel". I haven't had any problems with performance or reliability. The drill is an exceptional value.

I want to point out some of the virtues of the included light. Firstly, it provides a great place to keep the spare battery. When it's attached to the light it won't get lost in the bottom of your tool bag. It's also provides a great way to check if the spare battery is charged or not; flip on the light and if it doesn't then you need to charge the spare. Finally, the light is really pretty handy. It stands up where you set it, stays focused on where you point it, and provides a sufficiently bright, evenly distributed beam. (Please see my video review of the Joby Gorillatorch Flare Adjustable and Flexible Tripod Flashlight for a demonstration of why the brightest light isn't always the best light.)

I have owned this drill for over one year and am very pleased with its compact size and torque. I have drilled 3/4" holes through some tough 2" X 10" joists and loved the torque. My problem is with the batteries, I have had one fail in less then 5 months. If you have read other reviews on other sites you would see that this is a common problem. Because of the batteries I had to give the package only three stars and at that I thought I had been quite generous.

This one is easy to make short and (very) sweet. The drill is gang busters. Very powerful, good balance, comparatively light, easy to use and reasonably priced. So 5 stars for the important stuff. You also get 2 long lasting batteries - at least they seem to be retaining their power for a nice length of time - that charge up quickly. Another 5 stars for that. The overall design works well for me, even though cosmetically it looks like it was created by a Klingon, 40 light years from Earth. But hell, I like it and it's a great conversation starter. I'll lay odds though that if some Earthling is around when you whip it out they'll find it almost impossible not to make some sort of smart-ass remark about its looks. But of course in matters of taste it's every Borg for itself.

Now for the curious part: The drill comes with a Texas size case. Or should I say a case the size of Texas. It's huge: 18" x 16" x 4.5." But for all the real estate it takes up on the outside, the inside is divided up in such a way as to make sure it's a #%@^ing challenge to put handy stuff - like bits & the like - into. Lots of little spaces, but a little too little. Couple of larger spaces, but also not quite large enough to get useful stuff into. So much wasted space. Then there's the flash light. An odd-sized affair which actually does provide excellent light, but requires you to use one of those splendid batteries. I don't know how most would react, but my thoughts were something like: "Humm, another flashlight. Do I really need another @%$^ing flashlight?"

Hey, is this a negative review? Nooooooooooo!! If you're shopping for a drill of this kind, this baby is smokin'! I'll be thrilled if it retains it's performance for a decent length of time. But if you don't have a reasonable sized case, you'd better budget for one. I don't think you'll want to be schlepping this monster around.

I LIKE the bigga box.With 2 Lithium batteries, I can keep the charger at home, and use the space to carry a full set of drill bits, screwdriver bits, screws, and etc.
Great chuck. bits line right up when you are tightening them.
The handle on this drill fits my hand better than any drill I've ever held.If a tool feels right in your hand it makes a big difference.
I just ponied up $200. for the new Bosch compact drill. The Hitachi drill does as good a job and has a better chuck. AND A Flashlight that is almost too bright. It's in the Q beam range. Sure it runs down the batteries as fast as the drill does, but That still gives you plenty of run time.
The built in LED light on the drill is up by the trigger like the Milwaukee, so it can shine down into a tight spot where your screw is. The Bosch and the Ridgid drills have an LED light that is down by the battery so it couldn't shine into a tight spot.
The Hitachi cost $60. less than the Bosch.
The Hitachi is ergonomically a better fit.(I used a 6 syllable word., Impressive!)What I mean is , it fits my hand very well.
I took the Flashlight on a Cubscout campout last week, It worked great at spotlighting about a dozen deer at the same time. And then I used it as a spotlight for the talent show at night. We couldn't have seen without it.
I'm still amazed that this Drill Combo kit was only $140.00 at Lowes. I think Hitachi has less overhead so they can let their tool's quality be their own advertisement. I did go ahead and buy a Milwaulkee 18V Lithium drill and have found that it's batteries run out sooner than the Hitachi's batteries do.

Great product! I received my drill just in time for the meat of my bedroom and bath addition. In a few short weeks I've put this drill to the test, charging and recharging the batteries for 12 hour+ days. I've used it for sheet rocking, extensive hole drilling, under the house work and everything else. It's been roughed up and still drills like a charm. I especially like the light weight. If you're going to do a lot (or even a little) work with your drill - light weight is the way to go. I've given the light minimal use but it seems to work just fine.
I know there's higher end drills with more torque and speed on the market but for a much higher price tag. If your a do-it-yourselfer, this is the drill; plenty of torque and speed. By the way, I've never taken the time to review a product before but felt strongly enough about this one to put in a good word. I did the research on the online blogs and on consumer reports before purchasing. This drill measures up.