Cordless drills. Your pick for anything else, but quality cordless drill with two batteries (one of them always in the charger) is one of life’s great pleasures.
As is a flashlight that uses the same battery. They usually aren’t comfortable to hold for an hour --they’re made to stand upright-- but they are always ready when you need a bright long lasting light.
I’ve found the longest lasting, most utile power tools come from DeWalt, Bosch, Makita, and Freud*. My house has electricity, so I only have a cordless drill driver, and don’t use that too often. The difference used to be in the motors and bearings. But high quality parts are economical and available for all manufacturers, so the difference between manufacturers comes down to sturdy housings, and ease of use. And of course, avoid anything that doesn’t take standard blades, bits, etc… Those are the parts that wear out and break the most.
*With Freud tools, the wood has to want to be cut.
If it were a slide switch on the back end of the handle, out of the way, but easy to use if one wanted it. But right where a right-handed operator’s thumb natually falls? That is just stupid.
I have a 1/2" Bosch drill that is a wonder to behold, and a right angle Milwaukee. Both are vital tools if you are putting electrical in a building being framed. The Milwaukee and a sharp wood bore drill goes through pine 2x4s like a knife through butter.
Bimford all the way baby!
Sears/Craftsman doesn’t make anything. It is all rebranded Skil, B&D, whatever. They also refused to sell me replacement brushes for my neighbors router I was fixing for him, claiming these were not consumer replaceable items, and I would have to pay to have them installed. This was a router with external brush holders with coin-slotted caps. Fortunatly I was able to buy them from Skil, but it pissed me off enough that I have not bought any tools from Sears in the 15+ years, though I have spent way more than I care to think about elsewhere.
I have had good luck getting repair parts for Skil, B&D, and Milwaukee tools, I used to swear by the red tools, though I worry since Ryobi bought out Milwaukee.
One thing with B&D is that they have numerous price-point/quality levels. There lower end stuff was pretty crappy, but there top end was pretty good. A decade or so they bought up DeWalt (I think it was??) and maybe that is now their high end. The low end stuff will have sleeve bearings, stamped parts, etc. while the high end stuff will have ball bearings, machined parts, more powerful motors, replaceable brushes, stuff like that. After a while you can spot it with a look, but at first it is easy to get fooled by the cheap stuff.
Since they haven’t been mentioned yet, I have a couple of Hitachi tools that seem to be serving well. Seems like they build decent stuff, but spend little on marketing it.
The best thing to do is read reviews that compare 3-4 different brands of the same tool…“Cordless drill shootout” or whatever. Individual reviews tend to be glowing, and it is hard to compare reviews of different tools by different authors. Reviews in publications that get paid for advertising almost never mention any flaws. Also beware of “other buyers” reviews on vendor sites, as many will censor less than glowing reviews.
Yeah, any drill can put a 1/8" hole in a piece of wood. When you chuck up that wood bore, you’ll find out if the drill is any good. I don’t have a right angle drill, or need one, but I want one anyway, thanks for the recommendation.
The home-shop woodworker (semi-)pros I know swear by Makita, Festool and Hilti. All my own power tools are Makita, and I love them. I have used Festool and loved them even more. Panasonic is considered the ultimate cordless screwdriver.
If you are just an occasional user, B&D tools are fine. For a professional, they are not sturdy enough. Presently, I have a Porter&Cable 18V cordless drill-it is great, plenty of power and very rugged.
You can spend a fortune for top brand tools, but if you don’t use them often, it is wated cash.
I’ve had good luck with DeWalt. I bought one of their 18 volt mega-kits about seven years ago, and other than replacing the motor in the drill last year, I’ve had no problems.
About that motor - DeWalt tools are tough and can withstand a lot of abuse, but when I dropped the drill 15 feet to concrete, it bounced, but the magnets in the motor cracked. It still ran, but poorly. The good thing with buying a popular brand is that repair parts are easily available and affordable.