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Average Customer Review
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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
97 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
great value
I've been using this kit heavily to finish a basement room. I did some shopping around originally to upgrade my old 9.6 V cordless. I had narrowed it down the Dewalt DC720KA, the Milwaukee 18v compact, or the BDF142 when I came upon this kit. I never used an impact driver before this, but I discovered all the pros now do their screw driving with these. I'm glad I...
Published on January 2, 2008 by Jeff Pike
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of Good, But One Problem....
Have had this kit for just under a year. The weight of the tools is phenomenal. Very light and excellent balance. The impact gun is pretty impressive. The drill, however, doesn't really have the ooomph I was hoping for. And if you are doing a lot of drilling, expect your batteries to get very hot, and also to take a very long time to cool down before the charger will...
Published on September 5, 2008 by MeredithJL
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97 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
great value, January 2, 2008
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
I've been using this kit heavily to finish a basement room. I did some shopping around originally to upgrade my old 9.6 V cordless. I had narrowed it down the Dewalt DC720KA, the Milwaukee 18v compact, or the BDF142 when I came upon this kit. I never used an impact driver before this, but I discovered all the pros now do their screw driving with these. I'm glad I decided to give it a try!
Impact Driver: I will never drive wood screws with a drill again! Significantly less pressure is required to keep the phillips bit in contact with the screw head. I've driven 3" wood screws all week and not a single stripped head. It can install a fastener in tight places where a drill or hammer/nail just can't go. Superior torque will bury the screw (head and all) as deep in the wood as you want to go. I will use this more than any other tool in the kit. It is a little beast!
Drill: Good combination of power and speed. Enough to push a 1 1/4" self feeding bit through 3 1/2" of pressure treated lumber the high torgue setting. 5/8" self feeding bits eat through studs in a flash on the high speed setting. It is light like a cordless tool should be, and has the best power/weight ratio of any cordless by far. It comes with a quality chuck and plenty of torque. I think the drill is slightly better than the compact 18v Milwaukee and just a shade behind the Dewalt DC720KA which are both fine products.
Light: Has four convenient head angle adjustments from 0 degrees to about 110 degrees and a strap for hanging. Not a primary reason to buy this kit, but it's come in really handy for me.
Kit positives: Nice compact case has room for drill bits and accessories. Batteries do charge in 15 minutes. These tools have serious power. The combo of the drill and impact driver is unbeatable at this price. You would spend twice this to get the equivalent from another manufacturer. All three of the tools are a pleasure to use. The led light on the drill and impact driver does come in handy when you are working in dark corners.
Kit negatives: Run time might not be enough for heavy duty users. Not a problem for me; quick charge time makes up for it. I can use the impact drive all day on two full battery charges. Most of the black on these tools is rubber except for the raised Makita logo, which is paint. I've jammed the impact driver into some tight places which has caused some of that paint to scratch off. You can buy belt clips for these tools off e-bay which is only a minor inconvenience.
Overall: Considering what you get for the price, this is a five star kit.
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49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome little tools!, November 24, 2007
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
First off, I'm a professional fabricator, and i've been typically really hard on my tools, especially cordless tools, but these have far exceeded my expectations. I bought this setup when i was in a jam, my heavy duty 18v Milwuakee crapped out after only 2mos of service, and only a week back from its first warranty repair (I'm no longer a milwuakee fan, sadly). Well, needing to finish a project for monday, and stuck looking for a new driver/drill on a saturday night, I picked up the combo kit at a Home Depot minutes before closing, figuring it would get me through the project, and the impact driver might come in handy for some light duty projects later on.
Well I was amazed after working with these for 4 mos solid. So small yet so powerful, and far more rugged than i would have expected for their light weight and plastic-y feel. And wow, did i say they are small? I mean i can put the impact driver in the side pocket on my cargo shorts, or back pocket of my carhartts and comfortably climb a ladder like that. They seriously lighten my load when I'm lugging a bag of tools to a gig outside the shop, too.
The only drawback I've found is an entirely acceptable compromise for the light weight and easy handling, which is short battery life between charges. But Makita makes up for this by including a sophisticated and fast charger.
In short, this works really great for the sort of work that cordless tools do well for; tough intermittent tasks where access is tight. Sure it doesn't have all of the brawn of some of the full-size makita 18v line, but really when i need that sort of power, I'll want to be using something Pneumatic or AC-driven.
Buy it if you need a lightweight tool for intermittent use. If you need something to replace a corded/pneumatic tool out in the field, you might want to bump up to the full size (lxt) line.
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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Great set for a low price, August 23, 2007
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
The new LiOn driver usually runs near two hundred by itself. Add the impact driver that goes for close to this price AND include the spotlight and you definitely have a winner.
I've used the driver myself and it is a joy to use. It is very lightweight and the batteries charge in 15 minutes. So even if I'm using the drill full time, I can't run out of juice.
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of Good, But One Problem...., September 5, 2008
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
Have had this kit for just under a year. The weight of the tools is phenomenal. Very light and excellent balance. The impact gun is pretty impressive. The drill, however, doesn't really have the ooomph I was hoping for. And if you are doing a lot of drilling, expect your batteries to get very hot, and also to take a very long time to cool down before the charger will start charging them. I've had these guns heat up quite a bit while under heavy use, so much so that I've had to put gloves on. This is drilling into steel, by the way. These are great guns for the price and the weight, but under heavy usage (I'm a scenic carpenter in the entertainment industry), the drill is less than impressive. And the clutch just died on it. I'm going to stick with Makita, but I'm going for the more powerful guns.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Lithium Rocks...., July 12, 2008
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
Anyone as confused by the compact vs regular lithium technology in these Makita Drills as I was?
I have used both the compact and the LXT version of the Makita Lithium cordless tool sets. Mostly the impact driver and drill/driver. I am a electrical contractor and am pretty hard on my tools.
First both sets worked great. However, I did find that I spent considerable amount of time fetching new batteries with the compact version of the drills. I found this to be irritating, and prefered to use the LXT lithium drill as it lasted twice as long and had maybe just a little more UMMMPHHH to it.
One of my employees who has long struggled with tendonitis in his arm will use nothing else besides the compact version. It is about a pound lighter and it makes enough difference, of course he gets paid the same whether he changes the battery pack ten times a day or five.
Bottom line, both drills work very well. The compact is so light it makes it worth it for people doing lighter use, difficult position, or constant ladder work. But overall I would say it is better suited for the serious homeowner/weekend-warrior rather than the full time contractor. The regular LXT(non-compact) tools, although just a little heavier, are still much lighter than previous technologies and feel like a bag of feathers in comparison to a Dewault. They also lasted longer on a single charge(twice the storage capacity in the battery cells), which was the key selling point for me and the little extra power (insert Tim the toolman grunt here) was well worth it. Then again, if I am light duty user/homeowner and not using these tools daily, the compact version would certainly fit better into my budget and would still do everything I needed it too.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent performance and features for the price, April 7, 2008
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
I purchased this tool to replace a severely aged Dewalt 18v drill/driver. I build cabinets and needed a drill that weighed less than my old Dewalt boat anchor, so I purchased the lightest serious tool I could find, this Makita.
The drill:
- excellent ergonomics, very light weight, excellent balance, excellent run time per charge (especially given the 1.5 amp/hour battery rating), power to spare for normal usage.
- The LED light is excellent, and the fact that it stays on for a few seconds after the trigger is released is even better.
- I change bits a lot while working and have had no problems whatsoever with the chuck.
- My only very minor gripe is that the trigger isn't quite as smooth as my old Dewalt...it is not as easy to finesse small screws as I would like. I imagine this will improve over time, if not then wax, lithium lube or graphite will fix it.
Impact driver:
- I didn't purchase the kit specifically for this tool, but it was a handy addition. Same basic comments as above, except that the trigger seems less sticky.
- Just to see what would happen I clamped up 8 scraps of yellow pine 2x4 and drove a 4" #12 hardened steel screw (from McFeely's) into the stack. I used a 6" long square drive bit normally used for driving pocket screws. The screw broke when the head was approximately 5" BELOW THE SURFACE. Pretty cool.
Light:
- the unit is significantly brighter than my 6-cell Maglight with fresh batteries, and will run seemingly forever on a charge.
- As I've read in other review it is lightweight to the point of feeling cheap, but in the end it performs very well. Also includes an extra bulb.
Charger:
- intuitively easy to use, provides lots of information about the batteries and charging progress. One neat feature is a programable tone when the charge is complete. Charged a completely drained, hot battery in about 20 minutes.
The bag:
- Its a small thing, but the internal design of the bag makes it very easy to insert and remove the tools. In my opinion it performs much better than a hard case where you have to fidget with the tools to get them to fit. The bag is large enough to easily fit all the tools and charger with room left over for a container of driver bits or drill bits.
Overall the only thing that keeps the kit out of coveted 5-star territory is the slightly sticky trigger on the drill, an issue that would most likely not bother most users. As a previously loyal Dewalt customer, I wholeheartedly recommend this kit and all of its components.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Great combo, January 19, 2008
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
I was a little hesitant to order this at first because the driver is listed as model number BHP452HW, while I really wanted the newer model BDF452HW. However, the description is wrong. It does come with the latest BDF model. This really is a great deal compared to buying the driver by itself. The tools have a great feel and I'm sure I'll enjoy them for years to come.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Light, powerful and nice to look at, December 21, 2007
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
You will not regret this purchase. I can't believe these tools are so light, yet they are one of, if not the most powerful tools in their class. The LED light is awesome, obviously incredibly useful. The 15 minute charger is great. This set are really the future of cordless power tools.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Batteries won't charge in cold weather, March 12, 2009
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
I'm a full time Carpenter, living in Seattle, WA and working in residential remodeling. I bought this combo set in June of 2008 and it has worked great until the weather got cold (Seattle doesn't even really get that cold). I noticed if the weather goes below 50 degrees, the batteries will not charge...the charger runs for a few seconds and then shuts off. If I bring the charger and batteries inside to a warmer room (this some time isn't an option), it works fine (after the batteries get to room temp.). This is disappointing to a carpenter or anyone that relies on their drills on a day to day basis. Aside from that, the drills are great, lightweight, batteries charge in 20 minutes, the light feature is great, etc. The impact driver has a tendency to completely rip off screw heads, depending on the material you are screwing into...highly recommend pre-drilling if working with harder material and using the impact driver.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
lightweight - powerful, November 17, 2007
This review is from: Makita LCT300W 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Cordless 3-Piece Combo Kit (Tools & Hardware)
makita has made an excellent upgrade on their already fantastic impact drill, I upgraded from an old makita 12v combo set. I am very happy with this lightweight powerful combo. Both drivers are well balanced, the 1/2" chuck on the drill is great, and the l.e.d light stays on for a few seconds after letting go of the trigger, this is really nice. Super fast charge, Lithium-ion batteries are awesome.
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