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Does Lowe’s not carry Atomic line?


65refinyellow

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DeWalt seems to have different agreements with Lowe's and The Home Depot.  Both get brushed and XR DeWalt 20v Max, but Atomic and FlexVolt are exclusive to Home Depot, while 12v Max is exclusive to Lowe's.  I caught onto this around 2016, when Lowe's put 20v Max outdoor power equipment (OPE) on clearance shortly before it popped up in Home Depot stores.  I still use my 20v Max string trimmer and blower bought back then, and I'm glad I didn't "upgrade" to the 40v Max OPE Lowe's carried in lieu of 20v Max.

 

Home Depot put the DeWalt 12v Max tools on clearance around 2017 or 2018, not too long before both the Xtreme and Atomic lines came out, and no longer sells them.  I'm not 100% certain, but I think the 8v Max gyro screwdriver is only carried by Lowe's now.

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15 hours ago, 65refinyellow said:

Very cool to know. 
 

I had assumed Atomic was universal anywhere a retail store sold DeWalt.

 

DeWalt has a bit of a brand identity crisis, in my opinion.  I didn't even think about FlexVolt Advantage or Power Detect when I wrote the earlier post.  Their brushed 12v Max system seems to have been replaced by the brushless Xtreme tools, but the same can't be said for 20v Max.  From the top of my head, here are DeWalt's current 20v lines (including, where applicable, the big box store they are exclusives at):

 

20v Max brushed: usually relegated to entry-level drills and large value-oriented kits, these are time proven but mostly outdated work horses.

 

20v Max XR: the original Yellow brushless tools, still packing a lot of capability without the fancy features of their named lines and seeing some new product releases.

 

Atomic (Home Depot exclusive): Team Yellow's foray into super compact, yet still powerful tools.  I don't own any, but they seem to be almost an alternative to the 12v Max Xtreme tools.  

 

FlexVolt Advantage (Home Depot exclusive): offers more power when paired with a FlexVolt battery.

 

Power Detect (Lowe's exclusive): offers more power when paired with an 8.0Ah battery.

 

FlexVolt (Home Depot exclusive): okay, these aren't 20v Max, but DeWalt does sell kits that mix 60v Max FlexVolt tools with 20v Max XR tools.  Also, the FlexVolt batteries are compatible with most 20v Max tools.

 

Of course, DeWalt is also running two different high capacity battery lines: XR and FlexVolt.  The smallest FlexVolt batteries are 6Ah at 20v (2Ah at 60v), and they also offer 9Ah, 12Ah, and 15Ah.  The XR line offers 6Ah, 8Ah, and 10Ah batteries utilizing different cells, along with smaller batteries from 2Ah to 5Ah.  This isn't to mention their standard 1.3/1.5Ah and 3Ah packs, , compact versions, ToolConnect, and oil resistant batteries (sorry, I was checking out their website and am astonished at how many options there are).

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I have pretty much been Makita and Milwaukee in cordless tools.

 

Makita has excelled in 18 v tools but they have some 12 v tools but it’s not clear whether they belong in he home market (like Black and Decker and Stanley products) or if they’re compact pro tools.

 

Milwaukee on the other hand clearly makes 12 v tools that I effectively use on the job site everyday. Their 18 volt tools are great but their 18 v batteries, their fit, reliability, their charge time, and their capacity are not so good.

 

I have learned to make them work but realize that my front line in my job are the corded tools from demolition to framing. I fill in with hard to reach spaces and small tasks to the batteries.

 

I figure the simple, perhaps outdated 20 v max line are not always compact or up to the minute like an Atomic or XR, but they have a proven track record for getting the job done. I know they’re not elegant like a Festool or even like Makita Subcompact Series, but I have started my brother on DeWalt because it’s what I see on jobs as much as anything out there and in a pinch more types of hardware stores carry yellow.

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13 hours ago, DR99 said:

Man and I thought the GM badge engineering days were confusing!!

Tell me about it.  When I worked for the Cadillac dealership in the late '90's, GM still had a 20% stake in Subaru, and the cafeteria at the General Motors Technical College campus in Northern Virginia proudly sported the logos of every major GM brand at the time Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, GMC, Saturn, and Saab.  The dealership went from exclusively selling Cadillac in 1999 to also selling Hummer, Saab, and Subaru by 2001.  Of course, my time there overlapped with the Opel-based Catera's run--"The Caddy That Zigs!".  There were so many badge swaps that I am still learning about them, but every major auto manufacturer has been doing this for decades, whether it's Ford/Mazda, Pontiac/Holden, or Dodge Mitsubishi.

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8 hours ago, 65refinyellow said:

I figure the simple, perhaps outdated 20 v max line are not always compact or up to the minute like an Atomic or XR, but they have a proven track record for getting the job done. I know they’re not elegant like a Festool or even like Makita Subcompact Series, but I have started my brother on DeWalt because it’s what I see on jobs as much as anything out there and in a pinch more types of hardware stores carry yellow.

 

True, regular 20v Max tools are still extremely capable, if not the most powerful or sexiest of tool lines.  Heck, look how long the admittedly more primitive-looking 18v XRP line lasted, and notice how many are still on the jobsite.  I'm as guilty, if not more so, of taking my tools for granted.  I don't have the absolute newest releases, but I do have some of the best drills and saws from the likes of Milwaukee, DeWalt, Ridgid, MetaboHPT, and Bosch.  Even so, the M18 Fuel OneKey drill sees almost no use compared to the standard M18 brushless compact.  The FlexVolt saw only comes out on occasion, with M18 Fuel or Ridgid Gen5x preferred for most jobs.  Previously, my kit versions of the 20v Max circular and reciprocating saws saw a lot of use before I gave them away.

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46 minutes ago, fm2176 said:

 

True, regular 20v Max tools are still extremely capable, if not the most powerful or sexiest of tool lines.  Heck, look how long the admittedly more primitive-looking 18v XRP line lasted, and notce how many are still on the jobsite.  I'm as guilty, if not more so, of taking my tools for granted.  I don't have the absolute newest releases, but I do have some of the best drills and saws from the likes of Milwaukee, DeWalt, Ridgid, MetaboHPT, and Bosch.  Even so, the M18 Fuel OneKey drill sees almost no use compared to the standard M18 brushless compact.  The FlexVolt saw only comes out on occasion, with M18 Fuel or Ridgid Gen5x preferred for most jobs.  Previously, my kit versions of the 20v Max circular and reciprocating saws saw a lot of use before I gave them away.

I notice regular no frills is good enough if not better.
 

While I lust for the M18 Fuel drills, and I have good Fuel branded tools, even with massive overheating complaints that Fuel drills get as indicated in VCG and others, it’s ten to fifteen percent extra kick and added torque and higher price point is not really worth it over my regular brushless M18.

 

My Makita brushless impact driver with single speed and an average weight is more useful than my multi speed extra compact Makita though the latter gets more attention.

 

Whether for price or sheer usefulness, I never hear complaints about any entry level pro DeWalt tools like their table saw, 20 v Max, or similar pro yet price point tools.
 

This is where all three brands are similar.

 

I am yet to see any worker with just only XR, Makita Subcompact, and Fuel on the site. For the jacked up bleeding edge tools, I research the heck out of it before I buy. 

 

I only have a few like M12 Fuel hacksaw, Makita Subcompact  impact driver and rotary hammer. They excel at narrow specific duties but are not front line all the time.

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When I had to secure a four story house on a hill then I had to drill massive 1/2” and 5/8” steel bolts through 2x4” and 4x4” wood into the concrete foundation quickly and a combi drill, impact driver, or hammer drill wouldn’t be able to do these drill duties so it was this, an SDS Plus rotary hammer. 
 

You can buy any Home Depot Makita, Milwaukee, or DeWalt impact driver and drill combo set to cover wood, cabinetry, or electrical work and get at least a 1/2” inch SDS Plus rotary hammer to cover concrete and you’re pretty much set for all hole making needs.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-8-Amp-Corded-1-in-SDS-D-Handle-Rotary-Hammer-5262-21/203000510

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On 12/14/2021 at 9:59 AM, fm2176 said:

Tell me about it.  When I worked for the Cadillac dealership in the late '90's, GM still had a 20% stake in Subaru, and the cafeteria at the General Motors Technical College campus in Northern Virginia proudly sported the logos of every major GM brand at the time Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, GMC, Saturn, and Saab.  The dealership went from exclusively selling Cadillac in 1999 to also selling Hummer, Saab, and Subaru by 2001.  Of course, my time there overlapped with the Opel-based Catera's run--"The Caddy That Zigs!".  There were so many badge swaps that I am still learning about them, but every major auto manufacturer has been doing this for decades, whether it's Ford/Mazda, Pontiac/Holden, or Dodge Mitsubishi.

I wouldn't mind going back to the 90's the automotive market is so freaking boring now no one is willing to take any risks.

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