[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

these companies (particularly Makita and DeWalt) build them to take a beating.

A lot of people say that, but I don't know. I've never liked our Dewalt drill, and it wobbles and makes funny noises now, and I easily cooked a Makita grinder (and it didn't seem all that powerful to begin with). I didn't like the spindle lock on the one Dewalt grinder I used. Someone I know cooked a dewalt grinder. And the one Makita drill I've owned was just about the worst design imaginable. I think some of the more expensive tools have a made-up reputation to some extent. I've used Milwaukee tools a lot too (very expensive) and I didn't like them any better than anything else. Their batteries didn't seem so great either.