I have seen this drill in B&Q for £99.99.

http://nextday.diy.com/app/jsp/product/ ... ctId=57840

The fact that it comes with 3 batteries is good, but is the drill any good? Will it go through masonry with relative ease, and not break after 6 months? Are Hitachi a well respected brand of tools by tradesmen?

Thanks

I've had one of these kits for about 6 months. (thanks UHM) I would normally buy cheaper drills as its always the batteries that let me down after about 2 years of fairly heavy but infrequent use. (tend to use them loads for a week or 2 then not for a month)
I have to say it is the best battery drill I have had, physically smaller than other 18v drills I have had but just as powerful. 3 Batteries is great, 1 in use, 1 cooling down after charging and 1 on charge.
Don't use the torch much but it does come in handy from time to time.
My only criticism is that the torch, 3 batteries, the drill and the charger will not all fit in the hard case as supplied, however, with just a bit of trimming with a stanley knife on the inside it will and there is stil room for a dozen drill bits and a set of drivers.

Thanks. Have you used it much in masonry?

Very few non-SDS battery drills are much good in masonary. A non-SDS mains drill will always be better than a non-SDS battery drill.
It will do the occasional hole in masonary where thee is no mains conviniently available. Buy good quality masonary bits to make the most of the drill if this is what you want it for.

I was going to write a review of this drill/torch after I won one on here a few weeks ago!

Now it's been tested for a while I would have to say it's excellent

Almost as powerful as my 24V bosch (admittedly a couple of years old) it's nice and light makes an excellent screwdriver once you throw away the supplied bit (same as any make).

The torch is very good and seems to last about 3 hours on a single charge.

No percussion drill is going to match an sds drill in masonry but an sds is no good as a screwdriver

You can get decent masonry drill bits up to about 7mm for these drills that are ok in most substrates except concrete.

Is it worth the money? Well mines found a permanent place in my already crowded van.

I've the 14.4V one with 2 batteries and the torch, and have been using the 18V one over the last few weeks as well.

I wouldn't be using the 18V for any masonry stuff but other than that i've no hassle with either one.

The torch is great for taking the last dregs out of the battery before re-charging to keep its life up!!!

Still stick to the wired drills for masonry though

my only real comments would be

3 1.4 ah batteries are equivilent to 2 medium powerd batteries at 2.1ah

having said that that is good value and i would buy it

and as a operational tip always take the battery from the torch to use in the drill and replace the battery in the torch never bypass the torch then this will keep your batteries in peak condition as the torch is low consumption and sporadic use once the novelty has worn off lol