Rory

Thanks man, appreciate the welcome. Ok, I hear you. I'm thinking I may just avoid it then as I don't really use 1/2" sockets much at all. Especially if the price of the hex only is cheaper (which is what I would expect!).

Maybe you guys are remembering a different Craftsman than I am. I felt CM tools were always geared towards homeowners/DIY market with the slight exception being some of their mechanics Craftsman Pro stuff. I guess part of the reason I'm impressed is that my expectations were way lower? I was expecting this to be like B&D level stuff, but it looks more like just below DeWalt in a PC inspired casing looking at the stats. The real question is still on the hand tools and the warranty on them. I'm hearing it's still a lifetime warranty, but now proof of purchase will be required. I think there's a market to do the 3 pronged approach: Good, Better, Best. In this case I would think you do B&D as your entry level, Craftsman as your mid tier DIYer level (for those who want better than B&D, but not willing to pay pro prices) and your pro level aka DeWalt. I agree SBD can definitely do with streamlining their power tool offerings, but I think if they phase out PC this is how they can go about doing it. I imagine it will take awhile for them to ramp up everything to "Made in USA with Global Materials" with opening new factories and all that, so I expect some of the lineups to grow over the next few years specifically the mechanics tools, OPE stuff etc.

I gotta say, I was impressed with their showing. They're definitely committed to the "Made in USA" label, even if that is with the caveat of "from global materials" like their DeWalt line. Was discussing it at Toolguyd.com as well and my gut feeling is this means some major changes for Porter Cable. I feel it makes most sense to go for a 3-pronged approach: Entry level - Black & Decker Homeowner/DIY - Craftsman Pro - DeWalt PC has a history, but I feel like they're also the weaker of the 4 brands. Plus a lot of the new Craftsman stuff looks like they used the PC aesthetics as a base with slight tweaks and colour changes. I'm interested to see more in their hand tools though than the power tools. Hoping they can strike the right balance of quality/price to do well in the market. What do you folks think?

So you're saying the combo driver is not quite as useful in practice as it would seem? I'm a bit on the fence because honestly, there's not a lot I would need a 1/2" socket driver for. I was considering just out of convenience to have it already built in. If it's not as practical as it sounds, I would likely just go with the 1/4" hex only driver.

Looking forward to this. I still have the IDS181-02. It's fine, but things have really advanced since that was released. Would love to sell that and get one of the newer ones. I don't do a lot of mechanical work, so would be interested in seeing reviews and comparisons as to whether it's worth it to get the one with the 1/2" socket adaptor or not.