dewalt cordless drill ?'s

[mr.goodkat]

i've been reading and reading and reading reviews and forums to decide between ridgid milwaukee and dewalt 18v kits. i've narrowed it down to ridgid and dewalt, most likely the latter. but ive read several places where people have said that the cases on the dc950 hammer drill and 825 impact come apart easily. they say its cheap plastic and the screws strip out or the plastic cracks around the screws. is this a true problem? or is this people abusing their tools? id hate to pass up home depot's dck450XL kit. it just dropped to $449 at the store.

[kanxrus]

That's the first time I've ever heard that? Xenoy is what Dewalt uses, it is a soft flexible plastic. The screws should not have a problem unless you take them out and over-tighten them when you put them back in.

XENOY:

The Xenoy* alloy is a blend of semi-crystalline polyester (typically polybutylene terephthalate, PBT, or polyethylene terephthalate, PET) and polycarbonate (PC). The Xenoy resin family offers good chemical resistance, great impact resistance even at low temperatures, heat resistance, and outstanding aesthetic and flow characteristics. Xenoy alloys offer outstanding performance in applications that are exposed to harsh conditions, or that require a high degree of toughness.

[Steven]

I do new/remodel construction.  I have been using Dewalt 18v tools for a long time now.  I have fellow construction workers/friends/family using 12v-36v Dewalt tools too.  As far as drills, I have 3 (so far) of the 18v DCD970 (same as the DCD950 hammer drill, so i am told).  And I have several of the older 18v DC759 compact drill/driver.  I have dropped them from 1-2 stories high.  Dropped on dirt, grass, wood floors, concrete, etc.  I never have had what you were taling about happen.  I dont know any one who had that happen either.  Maybe Dewalt had a bad batch of tools or something, i dont know.