My friend who does all types of rehabs on new and older homes has a Dewalt 052 Impact driver. I used his Dewalr 052 drive on a recent job of mine. Then I started my own research about what really makes a great impact driver. The Makita 6980 has a great light for under sinks or anywhere you dont want to fool around with a flashlight or lighting system for a short job. The power at 1100 torque is great. The variable speed for slow starts on screws is what really sold me on this tool. The Dewalt 502 does not have a light or a variable speed . Sorry Dewalt no contest.
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br /Happy guy

THIS TOOL ROCKS. BALANCED, INCREDIBLY FAST WITH TORQUE TO SPARE. WE USED IT FOR METAL ROOFING GLASS BOARD,THIS TINY TOOL MADE FOOLS OF THE OTHER DRIVERS.
br /EASY ON YOUR WRIST, LED IS GREAT, GET ONE.
br /THE CASE IS OBVIOUSLY A "LEFTOVER" FROM A DRIVER, FLASHLIGHT BIT KIT.2X'STHE SIZE IT SHOULD BE. MAKITA SHOULD BE ASHAMED. VERY TACKY

I have had this drill for only a few weeks and am very happy. If you are new to impact drivers it takes a little practice to put in screws without breaking them (you have to pulsate the trigger rather than allow endless torque to build as you drill), but once you get the feel, it's the best tool around.
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br /One reason I picked this drill was because the current rebate offer is that Makita will mail you a regular cordless drill in addition to the impact driver. But now I wonder whether I will even use the regular drill when it comes. I have used this drill for nuts and bolts, drilling wholes, and driving screws and find it phenonamal at all tasks. It spins faster, with more torque available, and is much lighter than regular drills. I purchased the Hitachi 25 bit quick change drill-bit set to take care of many common drilling (rather than "driving") needs until the new Makita drill arrives. These bits have the hex shape to simply lock in to the driver. I also bought a Makita 763097-7A 3/8" Keyless Chuck at Home Depo (cheaper at Amazon.com) which is a "conversion kit for impact drivers". It allows me to efforlessly use all my regualar round drill bits in the driver. Just drop in a bit, hold the keyless chuck for a moment while running the drill to tighten the chuck, and drill. Drill bits run perfectly straight whether they are hex bits in the hex drive, or regular bits in the Makita keyless chuck.
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br /The case the drill comes in is large enough for both drills, two batteries, and all of your bits. The drill's built-in flash light is very useful in any low light situation.
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br /This drill is new and not yet available at local stores. I assume they focus on running out of current inventories before ordering the latest model. Very impressive Makita!

When I first saw one of these "impact drivers" I was watching a contractor installing a kitchen cabinet and noticed the sound it made. I asked him what it was,and he asked me if I wanted to try it. I went out that day and bought one. I knew it had to be good if it was a Makita tool because I have owned a few of their drills and a framing nailer for years. I have had this impact driver for about three and a half years. I use it for everything from making furniture to screwing studwalls together. I also use it to install nuts and bolts with a 1/4 inch drive adaptor. I even used it to remove a frozen chuck on my Milwaukee drill that no one could get off.( I put a 1/4 inch hex bit in the chuck and used the Makita in reverse to impact it off ).I never use any of my drills to install screws any more.Once you use one of these neither will you.It will drive a three and a half inch screw all the way thru a treated 4x4 with one hand. I also like the fact that it is very compact in length and gets into tight places. I strip alot fewer screws eventhough it has alot more power. The only drayback is that I have broken or stripped a few Phillips head bits so now I buy harden tipped bits instead. You can use it to drill with hex type mandrills but a regular drill is better and you wont break as many drilling thru hard woods. I love good quality tools and this impact driver is one. I wouldn't want to be without it ,and if I needed to I would buy another one in a minute.

Read this knowing I haven't used any other impect drivers. None the less, I have spent a lot of time with my Makita 14v Drill and have put in many screws. That said, this is one of the Best Tools I've Ever Purchased. I would venture to say there is no substitute for driving screws. Unless you determine that you need the clutch, there's no reason to grab the regular drill for screws. I should also note that there is a considerable amount of trigger control so that you can do fairly delicate work (hinge screws in cabinet doors). Works awesome on lag bolts as well. Much more compact than a 12v Makita Drill.

This is a compact, powerful and capable driver. If you need an impact driver for construction or DIY'er projects, you can't go wrong with this unit. It's size and strength give it broad versatility. It's a phenomenon.

I use this tool a fair amount, couple times a day. Its great for doing odd driving off a ladder or just lots of repeated driving. The only thing I didnt like was the ridiculous large case that it came in, but I just purchased a Dewalt6050 and tossed the crummy 5 times too large case. The glow in the dark ring is pretty cool to locate it if you need to, I keep an eye on my tools so nothing special. This driver does all I expected it to. Tapcons into old river run concrete, not a problem.
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br /As of January, several friends in construction have purchased this same model and can not believe how much less effort and ease of driving tap cons and 6" lags. Mine was borrowed for driving the lags into 6 by 6 pressure treated, the batteries did tire quickly but nothing that seemed out of line.
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br /A+++ Tool.

I bought this because it outperformed my other impact by a mile. It too was a Makita, but the batteries were the 1.5AH type whereas these are the 2.6AH. It even seems to have more torque, even though I know the numbers are very similar. Drives a 3" deck screw with ease.