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Lighter in weight but has the “chops” of the bigger 14.4v’s

Just got it a few days ago so as to give myself a lighter and more compact drill/driver for everyday use. I’ve already noticed that I have to remind myself to switch down from the higher RPM “drilling” setting when driving screws so that I get better control as the screw is entering the wood. It’s fast and strong. It definitely has the torque to get the job done with only one hand but it accomplishes this without a lot of the painful wrist twists and occasional head-klonking from the earlier DeWalt 14.4v units. AS an example, I drilled three (3) 1/2″ holes with a 16″ speedbore paddle bit straight through well-aged 4″ thick roof beams and a 3″ deep 3/16″ hole in dense poured slab concrete with absolutely no hesitation or difficulty. Along with that, a bunch of 3 1/2″ screws. The drill/driver has good heft and yet is markedly lighter and more compact than my venerable 14.4v DW954 workhorse plus it fits the hand well and offers excellent balance. Since I already have DeWalt tools that use 7.2v, 14.4v and 18v batteries, the addition of 12v batteries doesn’t phase me in the least since one model DeWalt charger will handle ALL of them. The ratcheting chuck is truly a blessing and holds round bits very well, especially since I had purchased, returned and reviewed DeWalt’s DW926 9.6v model earlier on mainly because the bits slipped right out of that model’s chuck regardless of how well I tightened the chuck. All-in-all, I’d have to say that this model from DeWalt is an excellent mid-range drill/driver with good speed and high torque for everyday professional use. Now, if you drive several hundred screws a day into dense wood decking, you might want something more substantial with larger batteries and greater torque. But for me, a professional handyman who encounters a very wide array of jobs with different requirements across different materials, the lighter weight and smaller size is a very big advantage — all without sacrificing drilling and driving power.

Update (2/8/2012): I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, DEWALT DC727KA Heavy-Duty 12-Volt Ni-Cad Cordless 3/8-Inch Drill/Driver Kit Tools & Hardware, was written by Cousin Vinny.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.