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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. I thought that all lithium-ion tools stop dead when the battery gets too low. 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. I know that was long-winded, but hopefully it was helpful. It's certainly not up to any significant cutting task. When drilling 5/32" holes for tapcons, the tool seemed to buzz and vibrate more than actually hammer. All in all, the drill is not impressive.The circular saw cut like a hot knife through butter with the supplied blade. 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.
I bought this kit in July of 2008. The purpose of this review is to help contractors make an informed decision about this Makita cordless kit. I'm not impressed with those two design elements.The sawzall feels great in my hands, but seems underpowered. The motor and power are fine, and the grip feels very natural. 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 can drive 3" screws constantly for over an hour on a single battery.The hammerdrill/driver is on the weak side. 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. It works well for driving, but with the impact driver, I don't even use the drill for driving anymore. The fact that it stays on when you release the trigger is great - most other lights will flash on with every slight squeeze. 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.
The best tool is the impact driver. THAT gets old in a hurry.And the flashlight, although bright, only has four positions. 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. It works great for light and even some medium-duty jobs, but not much beyond that. However, I have two major gripes. 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 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 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. I have had other lights in the past that swivel and are much more useful. I would buy the 2-piece kit if I had it to do over.
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. It's quite frustrating at times. This is certainly not the case. DeWalt has kits that are heavier because they're NiCad, but the saws work better.
However, as with any thin kerf blade, the cut deteriorated significantly as the blade became more used. 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. 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. Happy tool hunting.
I bougth this combo in december 2008, I am very happy to choose Makita, I did review Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Hitachi, Metabo, and finally select Makita, I study very detailed before I buy something, you can be sure to get the top performace tools on this combo.Henry Gutierrez, San Jose, Costa Rica
Pretty unimpressed with the battery life. Craftsman 19.2v tools I use are way way more powerful and and battery life is also much longer with the Craftsman line.at a lot less money. The charger is slow to charge as well. If I had it to do over again, I would not buy the Makita LXT Lithium.
They have great power, durability, battery charges quickly. I am the owner of a busy construction company and I use these tools daily now. Wonderful set. It's everything you need in a set. I love them. In fact many of my workers have decided that they want a set too. because really, who needs the radio for the extra money. You won't be disappointed.
It is my favorite part of the combo. I've not used the reciprocating saw yet but everything else works great, Long battery life and great feel in the hand. the battery life is impressive and they charge quickly.these are MUCH MUCH better than my old nicad sets. the impact driver works much better than a drill for driving lag bolts and screws etc., it is true that the screw heads don't strip out as easy as they do with a drill. I've found the trigger very responsive and easy to feather on the impact driver. I am glad i got the 3 ah batteries instead of the 1.5. I've even used the flash lightover all so far great products
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