Makita BDF452HW 18-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Driver Drill Kit

• Makita 784874-A Ultralok 15 Piece Drilling and Driving Set
• Makita BML185W 18V LXT Flashlight
• Makita BML185N 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Flashlight
• Makita 194205-3 18 Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Battery BL1830
• Makita 784869-A Shorty 3-1/8-Inch Bit Tip Holder with 12 Bit Tip Assortment

This cordless drill weighs only 3.5 pounds, the lightest yet of any professional 18 volt. It has a comfortable grip and excellent ergonomics, which is ideal for continual use. Located just above the trigger, are two "headlights." Headlights refer to small LED lights that provide light where you need it most. I was skeptical about this feature, thinking it was just another gimmick, but after using it for some time, I’ve come to depend on it. From lighting my way to the house in the dark, when bringing the batteries/tools on cold nights to providing light in a dark cabinet, closet, or under a desk, this a must-have feature. Rubber grips adorn the exterior of this tool and protect it during impact if it falls. For all that you get with this tool package, the price is unbelievably low. This 18 volt is perfect for the professional who needs a powerful cordless to use all day long.

This Makita drill also has the most advanced charging system available and it charges in only 15 minutes! Generically, it’s called a "smart charging system." A computer chip inside the battery lets the charger know exactly how to optimally charge the battery, to completely charge each cell within the battery and for maximum battery life. Each battery is made up of smaller 1.2 volt cells. Often a battery will drain unevenly during normal use, at different rates within these internal cells. A normal charger will stop charging the battery when one cell reaches maximum capacity, not all of them. Once this happens once, it will continue to do so as long as you use the battery. What this means is your 18-volt battery is now a 16- or 17-volt battery and it can drop even lower. A "smart charger" will charge every cell independently until each cell is fully charged, so your 18-volt battery will remain 18 volts for its entire life. This charger has a fan in it and blows air through the battery to cool it down before charging so the battery can be charged right away, unlike other brands, where the charger waits until the battery cools, or even worse attempts to charge a hot battery pack and damages it or decreases the life of the battery. These Makita lithium-ion batteries will last longer than standard batteries and can be charged over 1200 times, as opposed to the standard of 600 to 800 times, which alone can justify the slightly higher price tag. -- Gabriel Shantara Ford

What's in the Box
Driver drill; compact lithium-ion batteries (2); 15-minute Rapid Charger; carrying case

We use these an assembly section of our factory and they are excellent. Approve. Quick charge time, good power.

The unit is lightweight, powerful and well balanced. I am pleased with the product. The only area of uncertainty was whether or not two batteries were included. The keyless chuck works very well. They were, but I was not able to ascertain this for sure from the descriptive material.

a recommandation tho, I would really consider the drill driver set if anyone's thinking of heavy drilling on mansonry stuff. Compact size allow me to use it everywhere that I need it; handy and light weight. Has recently started my condo renovation; this drill driver has been a big help. the battery last long time. This one would do, but the other one has more power; get both if you knew you will be running into mansonry drilling. I'm very happy with this purchase.

First impressions great. After testing various bits and setups I determined that the chuck was off center and was causing any drill bits to wobble, not greatly, but enough you could feel it and enough to physically bend a small bit. Since the chuck is a little off center, this indicates poor manufacturing tolerances. I was very impressed with the whole package so I took it for a spin. This may have been a bad batch from a failed CNC machine, or it may be indicative of a more general problem, poor manufacturing practices that ultimately translate into poor quality and usually along with that a poor repair history, and a short product life.

and ordered the Dewalt DC720KA. I must be too critical so I compare drill holes with the Makita and my 10 year old Dewalt. Oh yeh and the Dewalt weighted a ton compared to the Makita.In conclusion, and honestly with great regret I sent the second Makita back for a refund ( ***** Stars to Amazon again ). I've owned a 12v Dewalt drill for 10 years and although it still works great running on it's second set of battery's, I was looking for something with a bit more power,12v tools seem to run out of juice on larger heavier jobs so I was looking for an 18v drill.Did some research and came up with the the Makita BDF452HW and ordered it from Amazon. By chance the first task that came to hand required some finesse, a 1/16" hole in a small computer connector, not the typical work for this heavy duty beast but you have to use your new toy.When I drilled the hole, the drill bit shook and the drill itself seemed to have some vibration so I did so careful testing. I had noticed a previous review mentioned chuck wobble but after assessing the large number of positive reviews I dismissed it a just bad luck, it happens.***** Five stars to Amazon's customer support, I returned the drill for an exact replacement, no charge and three days later I had another Makita in my hands ready to test. It works great and has all of the features of the Makita with two exceptions, weight (its a heavy weight @ 4.8lbs but still very compact) and battery technology, still using NiCad battery's, rather than Lithium Ion.The Makita is a great product if you can get lucky enough to get one that is put together well, sadly I had two in a row bad. The second thing I noticed was the trigger speed control, the Dewalt was very smooth and seemed to be infinetly adjustable allowing me to very accurately control the speed, were the Makita had distinctive speed steps, not quit the control but definitely adequate.

What a beautiful well balanced tool, fits in the hand very well, extremely light, ratcheting chuck, LED light, lots of torque for those heavy jobs, and the cherry on top is the quick charge Lithium ion batteries. Sadly the second drill also suffered from the same fate, off center chuck causing the bits to wobble. Only time will tell if this is a freak batch or indicative of a bigger issue. I noticed two striking differences, the Dewalt was completely without any vibration, no doubt here, it was perfect.

I first bought the 3ah version, BDF451, then bought this one because I hang a lot of drywall and wanted something lighter. Plus mine came with a rebate for a free third battery, so with two batteries cooking at any given time, there's always power laying around with the bigger batteries fitting the white tool (plus, and I don't know if this affects my warranty but, the smaller batteries fit in the blue tools if you chisel off that little square tab inside the rails where the battery slides on--not that I would recommend such a practice for, say, a circ saw, but there's no need for that big honkin battery on the flashlight). It's smaller, it's lighter, and true, the battery lasts half as long, but there's no lack of power. This is a great drill. I sometimes almost forget it's in my hand. Only thing I think could be better is the VS--the trigger's a little too binary for my taste. It powers spade bits through joists no prob--in fact, the bit snagged once and the drill just about ripped my hand off my arm.