Customer Rating: 
Summary: Best buy for the money
Comment: I haven't had this screwdriver for very long but I am already overly impressed with it. I am currently refinishing my basement from the ground up and I have used this powerful little screwdriver for just about everything. Lots of torque, long battery life with quick recharge, and very durable. I am not a professional contractor, only a novice however my father is a professional. He carries the Milwaukee cordless screwdriver that is nearly the same as this DeWalt. He has used mine several times to compare the two and has been very impressed with it.
Features his has over mine is the (high and low) adjustment setting on the top of the Milwaukee, a battery read out on the side to indicate the level of battery life left, and a little more shorter in length and slightly lighter in weight (but not by much)
Features on the Dewalt that are better than the Milwaukee, longer battery life, more power, and the top angle head is made of metal and not plastic which makes it a little more durable (even though the bottom half is still plastic). Oh..... my DeWalt was 1/3 of the price as the Milwaukee. Some cons about it that really aren't that bad are the size and weight. I was expecting a much heavier tool when I first opened the box. Because it is very LONG, but the weight balance in it is very very good and is still pretty light weight even after hours of us. And I still haven't run into a situation where I couldn't fit it into a tight spot, however I am sure that time will come.
Over all the best buy for the money and would not trade it for another. Hope to get years of use out of it and maybe even pass it on to my kids someday so I can buy another new one. Hope this helped.
Customer Rating: Summary: Electronic Brake, Spindle Lock, Clutch, and 3 years use.
Comment: I do Electronics install/repair, and also a fair amount of woodworking/home repair. I've used the Dewalt Cordless Screwdriver daily for 3 years. I've gone through 4 batteries, but they lasted a normal amount of time, for their type. (and I couldn't beat Dewalt's battery replacement price with a re-built one at "Batteries Plus".)
I originally got this driver due to RSS (repetitive
stress injury in wrist). My wrist is much better now.
There are several things I don't see mentioned that make this driver the best I've used so far.
Many have mentioned the basics:
Max speed of 600, is higher than many others. and the Variable speed/reversible is a must. (slow start to start some types of screws is a must, especially helps prevent cross threading metal type screws.)
Hi speed is a big help with long metal screws- gets em in fast, and the clutch settings prevent damage as they seat. -- But you still have to ck the final tightness of the screw. This is where many drivers fail to perform. This driver is excellent.
1. When you let off the trigger, it stops instantly. (It has an electronic brake that keeps the motor from running on) This is VERY important to keep from stripping either screw Heads or Threads in wood screws or Metal screws. There's also times I want it to stop screwing at a certain depth. It'll stop instantly when I want it to.
2. When I STOP, the shaft LOCKS!! This is VERY important, and is something the cheaper drills and drivers do NOT do. It allows me to set the clutch to a setting of "3" for driving small metal thread screws, and when the clutch "clicks", I stop and finish the final "snugging" of the screw by physically turning the screwdriver handle like normal. (perhaps an 8th of a turn) So, I can control the final force I apply, and I don't strip the head or threads.
-- Likewise, I can set it to a high setting like 8 or more, and drive a wood screw into a deck, and do the final counter-sinking turn by hand, so I don't drive it too deep.
I've also used it to take apart shipping pallets (bolted together with 9/16" x 6" bolts and TEE nuts). I can do the initial "breaking free" of the bolt by "hand twisting" the driver, THEN I press the trigger to turn the bolt out. (This also lengthens the battery run-time.)
Battery: I get more than 1-week use out of a battery before I swap in my spare. Charge time is fast, but with a spare battery I don't have to worry about it, since I don't take the charger on the job with me.
It's got excellent BALANCE. I can flip it to re-orient it tip up or down, and it's easily caught and operated with no fuss.
Accessories I've added:
- High-quality "Jacobs drill chuck to hex bit adapter" for drilling with. (The first cheap "hand tighten" chuck I got was soft metal and the hex-shaft easily bent. I've drilled 3/8" holes with no problem now in 2" wood. I've also used it for for drilling and re-tapping holes.
It'll certainly pass in a pinch for a "drill", but I switch to a faster real drill if having to do extensive drilling.
- Screwdriver "bit extender/magnetic adapter". The hex bit holder this driver has does NOT have a magnet in it. It will NOT hold your ferrous metal screws in place while you hold them upside down. Note: The best screw "bit holders" can use the shorter 1" long bits (without the detent), have a strong magnet, and also a spring-ring clip to help hold the bit in place as well. The Bit holder built into this driver cannot use the short 1" long size screwdriver bits without an adapter.
The only thing I'd like to see changed to it's current design would be the addition of a strong magnet to the bottom of the bit holder hole.
The only problem I've seen is recently I've noticed gear whine when it's cold (needs to be re-greased?). Both of the "Model labels" have long since fallen or been rubbed off, and I've noticed this is common, from other Dewalt drivers I've seen in the field.
I'm currently eyeing the Bosch PS10-2 driver. It has same specs, and is much shorter, and can do both in-line and 90-degree driving, but it only has 7 "electronic" clutch settings. It has slightly higher "no load?" rpm. It's advantage is it's much shorter and has lithium ion battery, but I can't tell if it has shaft lock? It appears it does have electronic brake. Would it be as wonderfully heavy duty as the Dewalt driver is? (I've applied some pretty heavy "torque" by hand tightening the Dewalt on some large metal bolts, with no failure yet). The Bosch design looks like I'd have to be twisting against the gears in the swivel head gearbox?- (but it's worthless to me if it doesn't "lock the shaft"! ??)
- A reviewer said the Bosch electronic clutch simply stops the Bausch driver SILENTLY, rather than have a louder "clutch ratchet noise" of the Dewalt- which could be good for work done in "quiet office" job sites.
