I got the 2 piece set and it is a little fast on the trigger but if you barely pull the trigger it works ok. The saw is kinda weak going through 2x6s. o yea the drill has a lot of torque .

Long story short, I got the 4 piece set for $155 that is 18V NiCd, but because of Lower's mistake in internet order, they had to give me the Li Ion batteries instead. So I got it very good price. I bought the close quarter drill for $69 and they even take 10% off for their mistake!!!

I love the close quarter drill. It's the only one I know of that has two speed like drill driver, and has a LED light also. I looked at the more expensive Milwaukee, Dewalt and Makita already, they don't have that. Also it has very good control on low speed. I use it like a regular drill driver. I calculate, even if I return the 4 piece kit set and just buy the two Li Ion battery and the charger, I would have to pay the same. Now I get the saw saw and circular saw. So I think I can put up with the bad drill driver!!!

Question is whether Porter Cable measure up to the big brand? I had a lot of Dewalt, they're a piece of Chip ( as in S!!!). The battery all burned from just one earth quake retrofit project. I since bought a set of Ryobi that worked really well and lasted for 3 earthquake retrofits. But the problem the new set of batteries I bought are all bad. So now I am trying out other brands. I can truely say the Ryobi set out lasted the Dewalt.

I have a Ryobi drill that came with a flashlight and two plug in batteries, that are NiCads. The battery packs lose charge over time, so periodically I run them down with the flashlight, and recharge. I do this maybe 3 times a year. The set is four years old and still working well, but then, I have not done any really heavy carpentry jobs, just small projects.

My Ryobi set out lasted the Dewalt in super heavy use. I mean super heavy use!!! I did earthquake retrofit on 3 houses, that is to drive 3/8" and 5/16" lag screws of 4" or longer into wood. Granted I had to predrill holes. But it really pushed the drills to the limit. I dropped the tools from 6' or higher many times, it survived with flying color. It's the batteries that die.

The batteries of the expensive 18v and 12v Dewalt all died after only retrofitting one house!!! That's how bad Dewalt is. They are just good in advertizing. You ever use Dewalt drill driver bits? They break off when you slip on driving, the material is brittle, Don't last a quarter as long as any cheap bits.

Doesn't surprise me you've had trouble with name-brand tools. I've quit buying tools or anything else that might have to be returned over the internet cause it costs too much to ship it back. There are exceptions, but for the most part I buy where I can return stuff without a lot of hassel.

I have a feeling that all the different brand tools themselves will last, it's the batteries that crap out and they are pretty much the same. It's the batteries that cost an arm and a leg.

Sure Ryobi's chuck is not as good, drill bits tend to come loose. But just tighter it harder!!! I drill big holes, I managed. The trigger control of the Ryobi is infinitely better than the Dewalt, the Dewalt has the same problem of zooming when you try to start slow like the Porter Cable drill too. I like the Ryobi so much I went and bought 6 new batteries. My mistake was I did not have a project, I really did not use the new batteries to make sure they are not defective until it's too late. So now I just want to try another brand,

Why are people so hung up on Dewalt? I had not one, but two different battery voltage sets, batteries all crapped out pre-maturely, control were not good.

I had Makita early drill set, it was ok, it was just the ones they first came out in the early 90s and it was only 9.6V. It's just not strong enough compare to the 18V that came out later., I have a Bosch 14.4V drill driver, it is good, Bosch just don't have right angle drill and other options like the other brands, so it's not a set you can build on.

I agree Dewalt is a piece of crap, never had one that lasted anytime at all and i am just a home owner and not just the battery.I have better luck with Rigid at Home Depot

Ha ha!!! All the Dewalt battery crapped out so soon that I really did not have a chance to ring the tools out, now they're just sitting in the shed. They could well be very fragile, but I have no way to tell anymore. All I can say is I put the blue Ryobi ( the cheapest ones) through the ringer. I am talking I driving such a big bolt that it stalled the motor many times and I just kept pushing. Even the right angle drill that has no clutch or two speed. If they stalled, I just kept squeezing, they all survived after earthquake retrofitting three houses. I cannot imagine any job harder on the cordless tools than earthquake retrofit....driving 3/8" lag screws!!!