khariV

I've never had that problem with my 2731. It sounds like you might have gotten a dud. I'd take it back to where you bought it.

I've got both the M18 Fuel and M12 Fuel drills / impacts. (well perhaps all 4, not both?) Anyway, I have to say that for most things around the house, I go for the M12s. I've had zero problems with power and battery life is fantastic. I've even attached a drillbrush to my drill to scrub the shower and tubs and it works like a champ. Don't get me wrong, the M18s are really, really nice. However I just don't usually need the extra runtime and power for most of what I do around the house. I recently hung a 28" extension ladder from my portico roof joists, which required building a bracket mount point out of triple stacked PT 2x's assembled with 4" lags. My M12 impact (2453) drove every one of them without a hitch. Since there was drilling and screwing, I carried both the drill and the impact driver on my belt for the project and I have to say, it weighed a whole lot less than if I would have had to carry my M18s. If you were carrying them all day at work, the M18s would certainly be worth the weight, but for home projects the M12s are quite nice. You really can't go wrong with either, but for the money, the FUEL combo with an extra battery is under your budget and will give you a lot of bang for the buck. As far as bits go - I bought quite a few of the Impact bit sets during the EOY sales and they've worked out fine. I do like the Milwaukee bit holder better than the Dewalt ones that I used to have - better magnets. I've got a set of the FlexTorque ones, but I haven't had the need to break them out just yet.

When the reviewers say that the milwaukee beats the makita, I believe that may be referring to a comparison of how each tool performs with 2 batteries. If you look at those numbers, the Milwaukee handily beats the Makita for number of cuts and ft. of OSB cut. The Makita is still probably more powerful, but the longevity does go to Milwaukee.

Facebook? That totally explains how I missed it. I haven't been on FB in quite a few years.

I was poking about on milwaukeetool.com tonight when I ran across something interesting that I hadn't seen in any of the pre-announcements. Lots more pics and a bit more info on the official page. http://www.milwaukeetool.com/accessories/batteries-and-chargers/48-59-1204 Since it's sequential, I'm guessing that the FastForward button is the "Start charging the next battery" button. It doesn't appear to be available yet, but I can certainly see the appeal for those with lots o' M12 batteries to charge.

You mean something like these perhaps?: Free Starter Kit (battery & charger) when you buy 2 M18 bare tools http://www.toolbarn.com/specials/milwaukee-starter-kit.html or Free Bare Tool or Battery when you buy a M12 Kit http://www.toolbarn.com/specials/milwaukee-bare-tool-special.html

Jigsaws can do curves. Mini-circular saws... well, you might be able to force the blade into a curve without it binding up, but the result will be ugly. For straight cuts - either will do well, especially if supported to keep them on a straight line.

Hi all - I just wanted to share a pleasant surprise that I got from big red yesterday. So I've been eyeing an inspection camera (2314-21) ever since the review video was posted a while back. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to cut chunks out of the drywall to see what was going on, but I bet my wife could.... Anyway, the 10% off coupon at CPO the other day, combined with the "Free 2.0 M12 Battery" promotion going on at CPO finally convinced me to pull the trigger. The free 25' tape measure didn't hurt either. Well, I finally got around to opening up my new toy last night and what did I find inside? A coupon directly from Milwaukee for ANOTHER free M12 battery! So, the haul is: 1 Inspection Camera Kit (with 1.5 M12 Battery) 1 Free 2.0 M12 Battery 1 Free 25' Tape Measure 1 Free 1.5 M12 Battery directly from Milwaukee I know the 10% off isn't rolling anymore, but if anyone is in the market for a camera, this seems like a pretty good package deal to me. (oh yeah, the camera itself is really cool - amazing resolution and a 9' cable... so THAT's why there's a horrible draft coming from my outlet box...) kv

$169? Hrmmm... I'd love to get it to replace the 3 multi-voltage chargers I've got mounted on the wall, but I can't honestly say that I need it. Maybe I'll wait for a sale and satiate my red addiction with the M12 vacuum for now.

I am surprised that no one has hit upon the obvious answer - both! Get the M12 set for sticking in your tool bag to carry around for day to day projects and get the M18 models for heavy duty work! But seriously, the M12's are powerful enough to do just about anything short of building a new room on your house, though I suspect they could probably be pressed into service do that as well. I second the opinion that you should go Fuel. You can find the brushed versions cheaper, but the power and runtime of the Fuel models are definitely worth the extra $$$.