Got a flyer through about a Makita demo day at a local builder’s merchants for today. Im in the market to replace my 14.4v Makita LXT for which the batteries are on their last legs and uneconomical to replace.

I dont need anything too hefty these days and when my godfather came round to help with a job (he’s a carpenter/cabinet maker) he had these two small white Makita units – one a combi drill, the other an impact driver.

Bloody ace bits of kit, so I thought I’d go and get a good price from the demo guy. I checked kit prices online before I went to the shop this morning and you can get the pair for c.£130 online.

When I asked him what price he could do, and mentioned what I could get online he visibly blanched. 😳

It doesnt help that the “list price” for these is something ridiculous like £340! He may well say “no one ever pays list” but really Makita need to look after their retailers/wholesalers a bit better because it’s obviously pretty brutal out there for them. I can only imagine they get bought at that price buy internet-phobic builders who dont know better or are on a rush job and need and emergency replacement.

Anyway, I shall be getting this from here:
http://www.tools4trade.co.uk/makita-dk1493wx-10-8v-hp330-combi-drill-td090-impact-driver-2-piece-kit-mak-108-kit-1-p-153746

I have the same pair, although mine come in a metal case; available on Amazon for £135. They are both fantastic for light drilling and screwdriving duties, and the impact driver is superb – it was happily driving in 6″ screws into dense wood when I recently made my garage workbench. I wouldn’t be without them now.

IIRC the kit in the metal case, the driver isnt a combi with a hammer action, whereas the ones in the soft pack do. Otherwise it’s almost identical – it produces a few extra watts and has the hammer action and is 10mm longer or so.

HP comes in the soft bag
http://www.makita.nl/images/files/onderdelen/nl/HP330D-TE.pdf

DF comes in the metal case
http://www.makita.nl/images/files/onderdelen/nl/df330D-TE.pdf

Yes you are right, mine doesn’t have hammer action. Nonetheless it is a nicely weighted tool for most use, and for heavier stuff I get the mains powered drill out.

It is useful to get the twin pack as the second battery can be useful, although the batteries do charge very quickly anyhow

backing this up, internal renovation this summer confirm the above

however I did mine on the cheap by getting the hammer drill from wickes (£60) and then buying the bare impact driver from ebay (£30)

I had little need for a second battery tbh and because it half charges in 15 mins it never held me up

also better if you are likely to use it little again as only 1 battery to go dud

My Dad uses these and they are brilliant. £130 seems to be the norm with a bit of internet research. When I need new drills I will buy a set. Also good for getting into small spaces. I can’t really see the need for 18V having used these, at least not for timber.

+1 for the drill/driver kit, its awesome

the drill will dig a 7mm bit into masonry – which is 99% of all DIY jobs covered

I have the DeWalt version of these, they were a ‘You’ll be needing these’ gift from my Dad after we exchanged on our first proper house.

Oh how prophetic he was.

Relevant. Makita 10.8v kits, add a third battery for £10.

If anyone buys one and doesn’t want a third battery for £10 then please buy it and let me buy it off you plus a beer or two :O)

Picked up a Matika impact driver off the classifieds the other day and it’s great albeit one of the batteries is a bit low on endurance. A spare would be ace.

Pretty please :O)

I have these and they are ace for what they are, also have the jigsaw which isn’t so ace as it eats the battery really quickly.

Wickes price match locally and knock an extra 10% off.