NOW UPDATED! Nearly two and a half years later, I'm updating with the longterm view. See original review below the update.
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br /UPDATE: March 25, 2007
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br /I notice my review is Spotlighted. Thanks, Amazon... ;-)
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br /Almost two and a half years later, and this is still my most used and most reliable tool, seven days a week.
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br /In short? This drill/driver has some battle scars. It's seen literally thousands of hours of use and still does everything I ask of it. It's a 5-Star tool if ever there was one.
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br /The belt-clip I mentioned I wouldn't trust? I use it every day now. 35ft up a ladder, drill a hole, reach around and clip it on my back pocket. Drill in some screws, clip it on my pocket. It works 100% of the time.
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br /The built-in light? Never use it. Still works even today on the original batteries.
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br /I also bought the kit with driver/circular saw/reciprocating saw/light shortly after - so ended-up with four batteries. The second drill was almost immediately stolen, so I only have the one.
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br /Two of the four batteries are still pretty good. The other two died about three months ago at almost the same time. Rather than paying the exorbitant amount new batteries cost, I just picked-up similar NiMH cells and rebuilt them myself for less than 1/3 the cost. I just changed the brushes today which led to my posting this.
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br /The clutch-ring is still tight. It never did loosen up. And the batteries are still tight and sometimes difficult to get off.
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br /The clutch is a must use. It will twist the heads off of any screw I've driven if it binds, including good quality #4 and #6 wood screws. It will twist your head off too, if it binds and your head is in the way. As I found out. Ouch. When that battery swings around at 500in-lbs it packs a pretty serious wallop.
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br /One story that stands out was a header we needed to drill through in a building locally dating back to the Gold Rush. A 7/8" hole through about 30" of hand-hewn hardwood that had aged for a dozen and more decades. I used my [new] corded Bosch and a new 7/8 x 3ft Greenlee auger. I drilled on it for almost an hour, teeny movement at a time. It was binding regularly and I had to let the drill continually cooldown. It had gone just about 10" when the Bosch burned-up. It was 4am and I needed that hole drilled before 7am. No chance of getting another drill in that time, I decided to sacrifice my Hitachi. It immediately bound-up, and I had to switch to the low-range of the clutch. It drilled and drilled and drilled, and 45mins later, I had to change out the battery. Let it cool for five minutes, and then resumed. Long story not as long: It took another hour and a half, and three battery charges, but it drilled through that header where a corded Bosch wouldn't. The total apparent damage to the drill? The clutch makes some odd noises now and then and once every couple months it started popping out of high range and into low range (or sometimes in between). Oh - and a wee bit of the rubber on the top near the clutch tore when it finally spun out of my hand and hit the stud right before it broke through...
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br /I've dropped it a few times onto concrete. I don't think I've dropped it more than 15ft. One battery case cracked. A little epoxy fixed that right up.
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br /The real steel chuck still locks-up snug, although a few times it's dropped a bit when I had to reverse the bit to get it out.
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br /I've drilled 2-1/2" SpeedBor augers through 8x's. I've driven many many thousands of screws into you-name-it. Even self-tappers into IBeam, and, in a pinch, 3/8" holes into reinforced concrete (with masonry bits. Normally I use the Hilti hammer for that.) I've cut-out MDF and Ply using 4", 5", even 8" hole saws. I've cut headers in super-tight places using 90deg adapters and teeny short 1" augers and spades. I've stirred concrete mix. :-)
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br /This drill has never failed to perform any task, no matter how "unreasonable".
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br /Even with the warts, scars, and dings - I give it Five Stars. I'd buy it again in a heart-beat. I'd recommend it to people I know and like. ;) Still the best cordless drill I've ever owned or seen.
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br /NOTE: I notice now that the drill advertised in the text is a Ni-Cad drill! The picture is the NiMH drill. You want either the NiMH or the LiIon, not this particular package.
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br /--- Jodie
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br /Original Review: November, 2004
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br /Stylish and Functional? Not exactly what one might expect for a cordless driver/drill.
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br /Hitachi managed to pull it off with this beast.
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br /(For the impatient types:
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br /Summary:
br /If you're contemplating an 18v rather than a 24v, 36v or 48v cordless, and still want big-mam-a-ja-ma performance - go buy this one. There's nothing here to disappoint you and everything to make your job easier.)
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br /I bought this drill after my DeWalt went missing on the day of a huge camera install job in a massive production facility.
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br /I pulled it out of the case (I bought the kit with two batteries, the drop charger, and the nice case), dropped a battery on the charger and came back 20mins later to see (one is lead to believe) a full charge.
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br /Batteries don't charge out-of-the-box fully. You really need to condition them, but being Ni-MH memory isn't as much of a concern, so I put the second battery on the charger and went to work.
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br /I used it off-and-on for eleven straight hours, often fourty feet in the air in a forklift cage, or twenty feet up a ladder.
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br /Never once drilling into metal studs, wood railings, or even I-Beams did this drill falter. It still feels a day later like the original battery has a full charge.
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br /Did I mention this thing is a BEAST? Don't let "pretty" or "cute" fool you. I'm fairly tall for a woman and do jobs like this frequently. Hefting this monster will get to you. But if you need torque (550 inch-pound current best-in-class)and long run-times, it can't be beaten by anything I've touched.
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br /This drill crushes my DeWalt like a bug. Ryobi, Milwaukee, Makita? This thing will torque them into the day after tomorrow...
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br /The Good and the Bad:
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br /Thirty minute charge time for a 3Ah battery. I think DeWalt (my previous favorite) was really the standards-setter for fast battery charges, but, hey - you can tap sheet steel and drill 2" holes in hardwood and still charge a flat battery before you manage to flatten the one on the drill.
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br /Belt hook: Integrated belt hook. Plastic, but seems pretty tough. Personally - I wouldn't trust it. But that might just be me. I use a canvas universal drill holster on a wide mesh belt. If you don't want to be pulling up your jeans constantly, I imagine you'll do the same. The hook has eight positions (as memory serves) and can be removed and moved to either side with a screwdriver.
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br /Integrated LED light: Cute feature. Seemed silly until I was working in a dark corner without room to get my work-light into the space. It's built into the belt hook If you angle it up about 60deg. it actually lights up what you're drilling pretty darned well. It's the first time I've seen that and I like it.
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br /The downside here is that it doesn't run from the drill battery but rather a AAAA battery in the hook itself (or so I read). Good for probably 30hrs. I don't know if I'd depend upon it without changing it out before every job - but in a pinch it's nice that it's there. It has an auto shutoff after 15mins.
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br /The Chuck: Forget those plastic tightening rings. This baby is _all metal_ and probably weighs more than an entire 18v Black and Decker _kit_, battery and all, by itself. It's one serious chunk of metal. It's fast on and off, but you can release it slowly enough that I didn't drop any bits with constant changing from drill bit to driver and back. 1/2", so it will hold some serious tools.
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br /Two speed shift: Really useful, fairly well positioned. You can get it with your thumb one handed if you're dexterous. ;-)
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br /22+ position clutch: Really tight on a new drill. I imagine it will loosen up some. There is a definite difference in the break points even from 1-3 and 4-6. It kinda sums up this drill: Functional. ** See note for listed break-points.
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br /Side handle: Removable, and pretty sturdy. Sturdy enough for anything this drill would probably handle. I tend not to use them anyway.
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br /Bit holder: I'm going to put this in the "negative" column. It's located right above the battery - not a bad place - but it's poorly implemented. Very "consumer" in that you can't put extensions or even drill bits in it. It's made to hold regular driver bits. HoHumm. Ryobi has a magnetic plate there so you can hold screws. Pretty cool. The space over the bit holder is flat on the Hitachi, so I put magnetic tape across it to duplicate the feature.
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br /Weight: You know I have to put it in the negative column, but I feel bad about doing it. It's a real tool with a real battery and with real features. It's going to be heavy. But it's.. heavy. The specs say "5.5lbs" but I'd want to put it on a scale and see if that's with or without the battery. I have a hard time believing it. After eleven hours, I wouldn't debate it weighing 5500 lbs...
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br /Maintenance: I haven't had to do it yet, obviously, but the brushes are externally accessible. I think that's pretty standard, but put it back into the plus column.
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br /Appearance: Look - I like it, ok? I wouldn't buy a drill based on how it looks, but it's all cute and space-age-ie and such. It puts a smile on my face. I give it the proverbial "thumbs-up". Some might disagree and argue that it doesn't look serious enough. Fine. Imagine how much more impressive it will be when it actually IS "serious enough". ;-)
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br /Overall: if I haven't already left this impression, you can see why it gets 5 stars from me. There's really nothing wrong with it. And the list of "right with it" goes on for pages and pages, just like me.
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br /** Spec'd break-points on the clutch:
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br /Position: Torque:
br /1 18"-lb
br /4 27"-lb
br /7 37"-lb
br /10 47"-lb
br /16 67"-lb
br /22 87"-lb
br /Drill Highspeed: 124"-lb
br /Drill Lowspeed: 510"-lb (so where do they get 550 in-lb from? :-) )
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I work on a metal roofing crew, and most of my day at work is spent either with a cordless drill in my hand, or at my side. I don't personally own one of these Hitachi drills, but several of my coworkers do, so I've been able to observe the drills' performance.
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br /I'm a big Milwaukee fan, and have been using their 18 volt drills for several years. So, to compare the Hitachi drills with Milwaukee... Well, both are balanced well, and feel good in your hand. The Hitachi grip is somewhat large, though, and could be uncomfortable in a smaller hand. The rubberized coating that covers a good part of the drill is nice, but tends to peel off if you don't baby the drill.
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br /The chuck is all metal, and very solid. The speed switch is on the top of the drill, and rather large, stiff, and not as easy to move as some other brands. For unknown reasons, some of the batteries are also stiff, and require some effort to remove. They're supposedly 3.0 amp hour batteries, but they don't seem to last any longer than my Milwaukee 2.4 amp hour batteries.
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br /The drill sports an LED light embedded in the end of a built in belt clip- the light is a nice idea, probably useful to someone working in a dark basement or similar area. It's too easy to accidently switch on, though, I constantly found myself having to turn it back off. The clip doesn't seem safe to use if you move around a lot...whenever I tried using it, I was afraid the drill would fall, and thus ended up using my regular "Bigg Lugg" type drill hook.
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br /The charger is better than average, featuring LED lights that tell you about how much longer the battery needs to charge...usually no more than 25 minutes, which is nice compared to Milwaukee's 60 minute charger.
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br /My main concern about these Hitachi drills is the strength of the drill's plastic casing. I've watched two of these drills fall off of roofs...the first one fell about 15 feet, and landed on a plywood floor...it broke where the handle meets the rest of the drill, and is now quite unusable. The other fell about 12 feet onto the ground, and cracked in the same place. It survived, but I don't expect it to last much longer before the crack gets bigger, and the handle breaks off.
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br /Of course, I don't expect any power tool to withstand such hard use and abuse without any damage, but I've dropped Milwaukee drills a number of times without the cases cracking. One time in particular, I knocked my drill off a roof onto a concrete floor 12+ feet below...the shaft bent slightly, but I kept right on using the drill...

Hitachi DS18DMR Hitachi has come a long way since their last 18v drill that had something like 1.4 amps...I'm impressed with their new drill It has 3.0 amp batteries, 5 yr warranty on drill, comfortable grip, well balanced, tool caddy on board, a cute light used as a tool hanger , plenty of kick to get the job done, and it looks like a sexy green machine! I've owned Bosch brute tough, Panasonic, and Porter Cable cordless drills. I use my tools for a living. I give it five stars.

and I have tried them all. Will drive a semi-dull 3/4" auger bit thru three stacked 2x4's...on high setting, yet gives a nice feel for driving screws. The batteries drain pretty quickly, but that is the price you pay for all that torque. I recommend getting the kit with the circular saw and recip saw, I did and they are A+ too.

as a carpenter I need a good reliable cordless to use day in day out, after 18 months I can report that this drill isn't up to the task, I'm sorry but it's just not. Great power...... really good power, but the fact is for the first 12 months I owned it it spent 25% of it time back at the shop, items including new gear box, selector, switch (twice) and battery. I went out and bought a little 12V maktec cordless to use while it was in the shop and use this now more than the Hitachi. the low gear has gone on it once again and the Batterys are on the way out ...... I can't justify spending more money on it, (throwing good after bad). Great power, just bad build quality and service back up
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Tired of buying cheapo cordless drills that had poor battery life and low power, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It has great battery life, a smart charger, 3.0AH NiMH batteries (*beware: some DS18DMR kits have two 2.0AH NiCD batteries in an otherwise similar looking box and for the same price!!! It says what is in there on the box. Avoid these!*), great performance, and a fair price. I can't ask for more.

My Hitachi 14.4 drill fell from 18ft and broke. I was not to happy with the lack of torque on it so I purchased the Hitachi DS18DMR 18-Volt NiMH 1/2-Inch Drill. No complaints about lack of torque on this one. I liked the 3.0mah NiMH batteries on this one. The batteries charge in about 40 minutes and give a long run time. This 18 volt drill is considerably heavier than the 14.4, but the extra torque is worth the extra weight. The cordless chuck on the 18volt drill is flawless. It tightens very well.

I had high hopes for this drill. As an avid DIY'er, I need tools I can depend on. Although the Hitachi has a nice grip and fairly good power, the batteries are really weeny. I finally got so disgusted after changing the batteries after only an hour of work that I sent it back. My 12 V Makita, which I ran into the ground, was much more efficient. Wouldn't buy again.

My DeWalt XRP 18 fell off the back of my truck. I needed something fast. I read that the Hitachi had the most torque of any cordless which appealed to me since I regularly drill 3/4" wholes through 80+ year old floor joists. I have longed for my DeWalt ever since.
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br /First of all I will say that the torque is great. The little light on the side is also a great idea for two reasons. You will use it more then you can imagine, screwing a desk or table together for instance. You are always lying on your back looking up at a dark underside. This little feature will get used. It also doubles as a hanger, just adjust it to it's middle setting and hang your drill on your front pocket. I use this ALL THE TIME.
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br /Now for the flip side, these batteries will go dead just sitting in the case for a few days. They will only last, 20-30 minutes under typical construction use and that's not sufficient. I fear they are about to go totally dead and there only one year old
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br /The speed controller is on the top of the drill and the adjustment is forward and backwards. Slide it towards the back of the drill and it's in high gear, my most used setting. Slip off the head of a screw and amazingly you're in limbo gear. The switch will move forward between high and low gears and you will get nothing but a gear grinding sound. Funny how often this will happen when your holding a sheet of 5/8 drywall with your head. Terrible design feature.
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br /In short, just get the DeWalt XRP 18, you won't regret it. My next drill will be the DeWalt, hands down.
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This Drill/Driver Kit has a lot of power and is ergonomically designed. The only thing wrong with it is that it is very heavy. It is well balanced but is best suited for the professional. It is very heavy and tires your wrist in a very short time.

This Drill is a replacement to a Craftsman drill. Excellent quality, grip is form fitting and very comfortable. Battery life is many times longer than my previous drill. The quick change head is very comfortable and doesn't hurt the hands like other products. The best drill I've used yet.

The Hitachi drill works wonderfully and having two batteries is quite the convenience to keep on working.

This is the top of the line drill. With high torque motor and NiMH battery this will handle most jobs a corded drill does.

This drill is excellent. It has plenty of power and the battery lasts a long time. I bought a Bosch with BlueCore 1 year before and the batteries aren't nearly as good. All in all I'm very happy with this drill. Good buy, and thank you Amazon. Robert

Previously owned couple of Panasonic cordless drills and was very satisfied with their performance except when time to replace the batteries (about the weakest thing about these drills were the batteries and not the power/performance). Decided to purchase this Hitachi drill because of the good product reviews. In my opinion, the Hitachi drill is a better overall product value. Impressed with the power, speed, and brake stop of this drill. In fact, this drill stops drilling rotation so fast that drill bits became loose from the housing on several ocassions. You'll need to ensure that the drill bit housing is really turned tight against the drill bit. Like the sturdy carrying case, which is relatively large width and length wise, but slim in terms of depth (like a briefcase). Time will tell about the Hitachi batteries, however. From what I have experienced to date, I'd buy another Hitachi drill if I was in the market for a drill, and maybe any other Hitachi cordless tool product.

This is the 1st cordless drill/driver that I've owned though I've used them on several occassions. So far, this is the best I've seen. The quick charge battery is a major plus if you need to use the drill for an extended period of time. Though almost 6 lbs, I found the handle quite comfortable and well balanced compared to some of the lighter models I've used. Lots of torque and lots of power for the toughest jobs.

I have had a dewalt 12 volt NiCad for years and it has been great for small jobs and very dependable except for the battery life.
br /I got this a few months ago and it is no heavier than my old dewalt 12 volt and has all kinds of power. T-Handle is stable and torque is everything I expected.
br /I highly recommend this product or the lithium Ion version which is likely to be as good.
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I picked this out to help me with some remodeling work and replace an old 9.6 volt drill from another brand. I must say that it has lived up to its reputation so far. Tons of power, great battery life, and quick battery recharge are among my favorite features. The variable speed motor seems top notch and everything just feels like it runs very smoothly. Only negative is that it is a bit heavy but that's pretty normal for an 18V drill I suppose. Definitely recommended!

Consumer Reports gave it a best buy. So I bought it. It is pretty reliable. It comes with two batteries. Has adjustable torque and enough power for me.

I purchased this Hitachi Heavy Duty Drill because I wanted a high quality and powerfull cordless drill. Consumers report highly recommended this drill and they are correct. It really has the power and torque to drive in those 4 inch long wood screws. I would definitely buy it again. It is somewhat heavy (weight) due to its heavy duty rating.

I received this product as a gift and now I'm stuck with the NI-Cad version that isn't as good but the exact same price. The NI-Cad Battery has blue writing on it not yellow like the one pictured on Amazon. Don't make the same mistake as me.

The Hitachi DS18DMR cordless drill is well designed and powerful. The batteries charge quickly and provide excellent run time. The auxiliary lighting feature is helpful.
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Very powerful drill. While heavier that other, less sturdy drills, it is well balanced, and feels good in my large hands. I have yet to have a job that this drill couldn't do.

I almost hit the buy button on this drill, I have used dewalt in the past, its been a decent drill.
br /Bosch has been the tool I target when replacing my equipment these days.
br /I am looking to replace my dewalt with a bosch cordless drill now.
br /I have come close to buying Hitachi products in the past and almost bought the sds chipping hammer a few months ago, but decided to go with Bosch.
br /Glad I took the time to look at the spec sheet on both the Hitachi and the bosch.
br /Bottom line, Bosch is made in Switzerland, Hitachi is made in China!
br /If you have ever tried to use ANYTHING made in China you know its not worth your time or money.
br /Going to order the Bosch Now
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