When I was in the process of shopping around for a backup drill to my Makita 14.4V cordless (an EXCELLENT product, by the way: over 350 lbs of torque for under 100 bucks ), a friend who owned one of these refurbished Ryobi models lent me his for a day and I was quite taken with it, as it had more torque (it feels like 100 lbs or so, which is more or less the amount of force a handyman can generate turning a screwdriver by hand) than I had expected it to & the trigger's response was very good (i.e. it wasn't so sensitive to pressure as to make it difficult to quickly find the precise RPM speed at which you wanted the bit to turn). Of course, I was even more impressed when I was informed of its price. Indeed, considering that you get TWO batteries - whereas most reputable brands provide their inexpensive models with only ONE battery - and considering what the cost would be if one had to BUY a second battery (so that you'll always have one charged up & ready to go whenever you suddenly & unexpectedly need to use your drill), thirty bucks for this set is quite a good deal.
I have now had my (own) factory-reconditioned Ryobi for two months and it & the batteries have held up well (well, maybe the charge could last longer, but, then again, this product wasn't intended for non-stop, tradesperson-like usage). As for the fact that it's refurbished, well, who cares? The drill still comes with a one year warranty & it's better to have a factory-reconditioned name brand drill than a new piece of crap, like an AllPro or Turbo Shop model.
A couple of tips: 1) as this drill produces only about 100 lbs of torque, you should get yourself a good set of drill bits (which would be the case with any drill that one purchased - I suggest cobalt bits or at least titanium ones; while you're at it, you should also purchase bits for removing damaged screws, something that you probably won't have to use very often, but are nevertheless very handy to have in a pinch) and drill pilot holes before driving in screws; and 2) even reputable brands provide cheap carrying cases for their low to moderate-priced cordless drills i.e. they shod them with thin, flimsy, plastic snap-closures and, instead of actual hinges, hold the two sides of the case together with a thin, strip of flexible plastic, both of which break through repeated use A LOT faster that one would think, so I recommend that you apply a flexible plastic adhesive to the closure snaps & attach hinges to the bottom of the case (after first cutting off and sanding down the aforementioned flexible plastic strip) so as to prolong the life of the carrying case. Factory-Reconditioned Ryobi HP412K 12-Volt Cordless Drill/Driver
This is a good choice if you like to charge batteries. Every time I want to do a job, I find that the batteries have discharged since the last time I worked, and so I have to wait for who knows how long (since the charger does not indicate when the battery is fully charged, it's just guessing) until I can in fact do the job. Which is always a great pleasure (not) when you have gotten everything lined up to do the job.
Ryobi makes an ok drill but the batteries are so bad it's a joke. I had two of these drills, one where the batteries work but held a charge for less than one would expect, and one where the batteries NEVER charged! Low quality control. I now have Bosch drills and batteries that work.
I spent about a year researching drills before purchasing this one. (OK--I'm slow, but I hate making a bad purchase.) I was hoping for a Makita but found this one for about $20 off on sale and decided to just get it. I like every bit as much as the Makita drills I have used. I do a lot of art work that requires drilling and this stands up to many tasks very well. Have not tried using it on metal or brick yet but it works well on all types of woods, dry wall, etc. Would definitely recommend.
I had an older Ryobi drill that I LOVED and used on everything for many years. I'm a home, fixer upper, not a contractor or certified anything. I went through a few batts and chargers, and finally, had to buy their new versions, because they didn't make batteries that would fit the older models.
Well, the newer batteries completely suck. You CANNOT charge a batt, and stick it in the box, and expect it to get you through a job a few weeks later. I had two fully charged batteries sitting in the case for about three weeks, and I couldn't drill through a single piece of thin (2-3mm) metal going through both batts. Totally unacceptable. 3 months, fine, batts lose charge, everyone knows. 3 weeks? Not good enough. Due to this, I have to keep a batt in the charger at all times. Period. It sucks, and isn't typical of the quality I came to expect with this brand.
If this was a store-brand, it would probably get 3-4 stars. Since it's ryobi, and due to the cost, it get's two stars.
If you buy one of these, you'll probably get the model that I returned.
What a deal! I was going to buy a new battery for my old 9.6V drill and when I found out I could buy a 12 volt complete system for less money than a new 9.6V costs I was blown away. This is a great little drill with all the power I needed for most of the jobs I do in my shop and home. Can't beat the price and I am impressed with the quality. - Cordless Drill - Drills - Cordless Drills - Cordless Tools'
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