Makita BTP140 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Hybrid (4-Function Impact, Hammer, Driver-Drill Kit)

I love the four function aspect of this tool. It has an LED light too. Small, light and you can drill, screw, hammer drill, and drive lag bolts with it. Its new 18v LXT battery gives it more lifetime and power than the 14.4v but weighs about the same. The hammer drill isn't impressive, but a good tool for putting a few anchors in a wall or through tile. I gave it four instead of five because Makita still hasn't figured out that thier cases need to be mroe rugged. I bet the latches are going to be broken in less than a year.

Things I like about this tool: it is compact and light-weight; the built-in light is very useful; and the batteries charge quickly and retain their charge quite long. My major complaint -- and the reason I give it only 3 stars -- is that the torque is inadequate. I was unable to drive 2-inch screws into softwood, even with the impact driver. My ancient DeWalt 14 volt cordless, on its last legs, has much, much more torque than the Makita. A minor annoyances is that there is no place to store driver bits on the drill itself. In summary, the price does not match the performance. (Note that I have not yet used it as a hammer-drill.)

I bought this when it came out, love it!
When I had difficulty driving screws it was because I had it in hammer drill mode, NOT impact drive mode.
It will drive deck screws below the surface.
Fasteners with washers or a head can rotate brackets, you just have to learn the feel of it.
Any driver can snap off a head, thats a weak fastener.
If your fastener stops proud of the surface you probably found a steel plate.
Four out of five stars for slight difficulty in sliding mode selector from day one, even so, its still the driver I use everyday for my living.

Very happy with this expensive drill. Use it for work installing drape rods, window blinds etc... so the usage isn't that heavy. Have used it drilling into cement and tile a few times with the hammer drill and works well. The drill light is a big benefit since the lighting situations indoors, can be dim. On the driver setting, I would like to see the torque settings changed so that the highest setting would result in more torque. Without this I have to use it on the drill setting to get screws tight sometimes and this can cause a snapped hex heads from the unadjustable high torque.

I build custom furniture therefore, I use a screw gun every working day. I need a screw gun that can use every concieveable drill bit plus all the screw bits. Buying as an asserory a ball-dent chuck to increase the versitility of a tool that cost twice as much as a drill that has a keyless chuck as a standard is like an insult to someone who uses tools profestionally. I think Makita is looking for the rich hobbyest who will buy any gadget. Also, the bag is really cheep.

Ed Hand
A Creation By Hand, Inc.