The purpose of this review is to help contractors make an informed decision about this Makita cordless kit. I spent hours researching before I decided on this one (LXT601) and I hope to make your search easier.
I am a remodeling contractor and I use these tools HARD five days a week. I bought this kit in July of 2008. After getting over the euphoria of brand new cordless tools and using them for several months, I have a list of pros and cons.
One random note. I thought that all lithium-ion tools stop dead when the battery gets too low. This is certainly not the case. All of these tools wind down just as my old NiCad kit did.
The impact driver is by far the best and most useful tool in the kit. The belt clip is wonderful and the LED light at the front of the tool, which I admit that I thought was silly at first, has a surprising number of uses. The fact that it stays on when you release the trigger is great - most other lights will flash on with every slight squeeze. I can drive 3" screws constantly for over an hour on a single battery.
The hammerdrill/driver is on the weak side. When drilling 5/32" holes for tapcons, the tool seemed to buzz and vibrate more than actually hammer. It works great for light and even some medium-duty jobs, but not much beyond that. It works well for driving, but with the impact driver, I don't even use the drill for driving anymore. All in all, the drill is not impressive.
The circular saw cut like a hot knife through butter with the supplied blade. However, as with any thin kerf blade, the cut deteriorated significantly as the blade became more used. The motor and power are fine, and the grip feels very natural. However, I have two major gripes. The first is that the lever that controls the depth-of-cut seems to strip out repeatedly and I have to remove the E-clip and manually return the lever to its intended position. It's quite frustrating at times. The second gripe is that the lever for the blade guard is not big enough and I have to contort my hand into a very awkward position to reach it. I'm not impressed with those two design elements.
The sawzall feels great in my hands, but seems underpowered. It's certainly not up to any significant cutting task. It would be fine for cutting a hole in a roof for a ventilation fan or something of that nature, but it wouldn't be able to cut out all of the studs in a window opening, for example. Also, when the tool vibrates excessively such as when cutting metal bolts, hardware, or the like the blade clamp is not able to hang on to the blade and it keeps flying out. THAT gets old in a hurry.
And the flashlight, although bright, only has four positions. I have had other lights in the past that swivel and are much more useful. I have a much tougher time getting this one into position, such as on a mudsill to shine into the electrical panel in the basement I'm working on.
And here's the verdict... The best tool is the impact driver. There is a 2-piece kit available that contains the impact driver and a much heavier hammerdrill which I've used and found to be a much better tool. I would buy the 2-piece kit if I had it to do over. If you're a contractor, as I am, and you intend to use these tools to make a living, as I do, I would recommend not buying this kit. DeWalt has kits that are heavier because they're NiCad, but the saws work better. As much as I hate to say it, if I were to start from scratch and were to only buy one tool platform, it would be DeWalt. If I could mix and match, I would buy the DeWalt kit for the saws, and the Makita 2-piece for the drill and impact driver.
There you have it. I know that was long-winded, but hopefully it was helpful. Happy tool hunting! Makita LXT601 18-Volt LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Combo Kit, 6-Piece
I absolutely love the impact in this set, I'm in the HVAC industry and work with a lot of metal so it is always in use. The drill is good but doesn't have as good of torque as a DeWalt. This drill is not the same as the one that comes with the 2pc., its smaller and less powerful. The grinder and circular saw are too under powered to do any real work. The reciprocating saw is good, but drains the battery in about 5 min. of good use. The flashlight is great, runs about 6 hours on a fully charged battery, is very durable. The Batteries are amazing! extremely light and have a fast, long lasting charge. I can run my impact for 2 days of heavy use per charge. the light on the impact and drill are indispensable, they make my life so much easier. all the tools are very light and extremely durable. my impact survived an 18 ft. fall to a concrete floor and only had a small scratch on the battery, nothing else. the bag is just impractical, its way to big to be carrying anything around in.
I would just recommend getting the 2 or 3pc. instead, and use corded saws and grinder.
I bought this set for about 2 weeks.
A new version to replace LXT600 / LXT700 (both were retired). Look at the spec and here's the difference:
1. BHP452 maybe less powerful than BHP451 (just by spec; I don't own BHP451 to compare);
2. BSS611 is 0.2 lb lighter than BSS610; (Dewalt circular saw blade (18 tooth) made finish smoother in this set.)
3. BJR182 is 1.875" shorter than BJR181 and w/o the LED front light;
4. BTD141 has 50 in-lbs Torque more than BTD140 (I don't like the cheap silver plastic at the body, but not enough to make me deduct a star from this set);
5. DC18RA 30 minutes rapid charger vs old DC18SC 45 minutes charger.
Forget the LXT700, you don't want to pay $100 more for a on-site radio. You can have it free through rebate if you bought this set on/before 5/31/08.
I rather Makita offered an extra battery (even it's cheaper), but there is no choice. As another reviewer pointed out MP3 is a better choice.
You can still go to LXT600 to see all the users' reviews.
Best price/quality/size/weight/completion comapre with other brands like Dewalt, Milwaukee, Ridgid (no cordless grinder), Bosch, etc.
Prefect if Maikta replace the flashlight by a Jig Saw. Every brands practice to make money/looks better by placing a flashlight in their combos. What can I said...
I used to own Dewalt DC4PAKA combo kit but found the Ni-cad battery didn't last long so returned it and decided to go Lithium-ion.
IMO Dewalt quality is excellcent but the weight (me not a big guy) and price is too heavy; Milwaukee just too heavy and I don't like its hand-feel. Ridgid has lifetime service guarantee (including battery) but I'm not sure the quality of both tools and service. Tools look and feel good in HD but offer no cordless grinder.
So far every tools included are doing their job as what they suppose to. Again I compare this set with Dewalt Ni-Cad 4 pc combo set, not any other cord/cordless tools.
One LXT600 reviewer said the recipro saw is a pc of junk. I don't know but for me it did what Dewalt recipro saw capable to, only the weight is much lighter.
However, I did extended research before my decision and much appreciate opinions from all reviewers. - Lithium-ion - Cordless Drill - 18 Volt - Combo'
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