Another odd man out with my opinion. I purchase this product with high hopes. The drill has worked fine but the batteries went bad after about 16 months. Neither battery will accept a charge and now I am stuck trying to rationalize buying another battery. $100 for one battery or $260 for a new drill and two new batteries. Hold on, wait, wait, wait, this time from Harbor Freight. I will buy four plug in drills with extended three year warranty for that price. Then when one burns up I grab an other and exchange the burned up drill when time permits.

I also have a 13 month old Hitachi Impact drill thats batteries are shot. I have over $600 wrapped up in power drills and not a battery that works..

Started out with a ho-hum review of a Makita...and ending here by adding the applaud for this Panasonic.
We had a plethora of brands and models available from a group of volunteer crew (fathers) over a month-long set-building project for our kids' musical.
I'm an Engineer, and do a lot of projects on the side, but had never invested in a true 'construction' quality drill. My $50 B&D finally stopped holding much of a charge after a year or so of hard use so I took advantage of the opportunity to borrow and use every other drill present.
One friend had a Makita that I gave 3 stars. Issues with the chuck losing grip on drill bits and drivers with quick changes.
This Panasonic had a much better ratcheting-kind of action on the chuck that held tight to every drill bit I used.

I tend to work fast once I'm 'in the zone' and had need to rapidly kick into reverse and back into drive, and the Makita transmission kept making grindy noises and not wanting to quickly engage.
This Panasonic had no problem clicking easily back and forth from forward to reverse and the transmission was solid.

This drill felt light and balanced compared to others, and worked exactly how you would expect of a professional-quality drill.

Comparatively, the cheaper B&D's, a Craftsman 18V, and a generic NiCad were all noticeably cheaper built, and this Panasonic ran circles around them. Nearly every man there would always go first for the Panasonic, regardless of which drill he had personally brought to the site, making this the clear winner of the bunch during our project.
And it was about a year-old at the time.

To be honest, there was only one issue I had, and that was the method of having to squeeze both sides of the battery pack release tabs together to get the battery off in order to plug it into the charger. That could have been done in a way that is easier to release, and in looking at the new Panasonic this week (yes, I'm now looking to take the plunge and buy one of these) there is a slide-off engagement on the new ones so they apparently have now fixed that issue.

It works like a tank, and is particularly impressive with high torque at slow speeds, reacting to exactly where you pull the trigger, yet letting go on small screws if you select the appropriate light torque setting for more delicate work.

I am looking forward to seeing what the newer 21.6V Lithium-Ion power can do for this dependable Panasonic design, though for anyone not sure about the potential capacity-loss of lithium cells in hot environments, this NiMH Panasonic is the Beast.

Panasonic EY6450GQKW 18-volt NiMH 1/2-inch Cordless Drill/Driver Kit

This drill is fast, strong and light. If you need a strong performer and want to have money left, this cannot be beaten.

I purchased this to replace a 10 year old Porter Cable, which was a great drill. The batteries on the PC are starting to go, and replacing them will cost almost as much as a new one. After doing lots of research, I settled on this Panasonic. This drill has phenomenal torque, good balance, and the batteries are very strong and last a long time. I like the removable accessory handle and the 1/2" chuck. It appears very well made, and should last a long time. I have purchased many factory refurbished tools in the past, and they all arrived in near-new condition -- except this one. This came with many scratches and scuff marks, and appears to have seen a few weeks of significant use prior to being returned. I wasn't happy about this, but the drill is so good, and the price was so low, I will try to get over it. Highly recommended.

I bought this drill after extensive research online, and reading many reviews of it and the competition. This drill is superb. It is not as heavy as some have said, it is extremely powerful, and the charge holds and holds! The only snag I have encountered is when picking it up, I sometimes inadvertantly push the forward/reverse button. Except for that, I love this drill and highly recommend it.