October 11, 2007
Last week, we told you about Black & Decker's VPX Lithium-Ion Tools, their new line of affordable cordless tools. Now, we're going be highlighting the individual tools in the series to give you a closer look at what's available.
Because a lot of the tools in the line are available in tool only-format (no battery included), once you have a few batteries, you'll be able to pick and choose your tools in a relatively inexpensive manner. But, you have to get the batteries somewhere, so why not start collecting the line where Black & Decker advises, their VPX Starter Set.
Continue reading: "Black & Decker VPX Starter Set"
October 5, 2007
UPDATE: More info on the VPX starter Set here.
UPDATE II: The VPX website is live. Info here.
UPDATE III: More info on the VPX Inverter here.
UPDATE IV: This time, the website is really live. Details Black & Decker is getting in on the big lithium-ion frenzy. They've decided to call their battery system the VPX and they have a new and interesting twist on the whole cordless tool idea.
The deal is that each VPX battery is 7-volts and they work in just about all of the tools, but some tools are capable of taking two batteries to up their juice to 14.4-Volts. It's a neat idea to standardize the batteries for different voltages. As far as marketing goes, it's similar to the Ryobi One+ system, where you're encouraged to buy a starter kit with a battery and charger and then from that point on, you only need to buy the stand alone tools which don't come with batteries, and are thus much more inexpensive.
Continue reading: "Black & Decker VPX Lithium-IonTools"
October 4, 2007
Dremel has just released their first cordless screwdriver, and they were nice enough to send one over to us so that we can check it out. Like all Dremel tools, it's not only compact (about 5" in length), but it's also so ergonomically thought out that we think you could spend days using it and hardly even know that you had it in your hands. The tool can be purchased by itself or bundled with the cordless Dremel stylus in a package called the Dremel Duo. We've got the combo pack, so we'll be using both tools and letting you know how they are. Stay tuned.
October 3, 2007
Husky has just released a new tripod work light and they were nice enough to let us try out. It's an interesting design, and one we've never seen before.
The light comes folded up, looking sort of like a camera tripod with a very large central shaft. At the end of the shaft is a small light. Once the legs of the tripod are set up, the shaft stands upright with the light on top. When you plug in the light (which is made easy by a nice 12' cord), the light on the top lights up (it's blue). Now, here's where it gets interesting. At this point, you find a little locking tab that you press and once that's done, you can now grab the little blue light and pull the main light out of the central shaft, where it's been nicely protected. Once the light slides up to as high as it will go, it locks into place and automatically turns on. This, we weren't ready for.
Continue reading: "Husky 84-Watt Portable Tripod Fluorescent Work Light - Review"
September 30, 2007
September 28, 2007
So there's a lot of talk about Ryobi's new line of 18-volt lithium-ion tools, but did you know that around the same time, they're going to be releasing a little 12-volt drill as well? Unlike the 18-volt tools, it will be available as a stand alone (no word on when that will happen for the 18-volts). The new drill looks pretty cool and there's no doubt that it will be able to fit in some tight spots, and as with all of Ryobi's lithium tools, the price tag is very affordable.
It's very light, weighing in at only 1.8 lbs. That's 33% lighter than their current 12-volt battery. It's got a 3/8" keyless chuck and something called the MagTray, which is one of those magnets that's somewhere on the tool (we're not sure where), where you can stick a few screws while you work.
Continue reading: "Ryobi 12-Volt Compact Lithium-Ion Drill"
September 27, 2007
Ridgid has recently released a new 13" Thickness Planer and it looks like it's got all the right standard features, as well as a few new ones.
The planer has a 15 amp motor, nice fold down infeed/outfeed platforms, a chip diverter, as well as a place to plug your ShopVac – either 2-1/2" or 4" - to minimize dust (and there will be a lot of dust). Also included are some tools to help you change out the blades, or rather, flip them over, as Ridgid is thankfully using two sided blades. And don't worry about trying to index them, that's taken care of too.
Continue reading: "Ridgid R4330 13" Thickness Planer with 3 Blade Cutterhead"
September 26, 2007
The guys over at Toologics have just uncovered DeWalt's plans for two new battery tools to coincide with the launch of their Nano Battery next month. The tools look nice (and expensive). They are...wait for it.....wait for it....
It looks like they will be available individually as well as in a kit. Also, if you're unfamiliar with the whole Nano thing, DeWalt has a nice new presentation of the technology on their website here.
September 24, 2007
It must have been a busy few months in the R&D lab of Milwaukee Tools. Not only are they on the verge of releasing their new 12-Volt Sub Compact Driver, but they're also about to launch a new Compact 18-Volt Drill. The Drill's got a good selection of standard features and with Milwaukee's name on it, it should be a very durable item as well.
It comes equipped with a LED light, on-board bit storage, 22 position clutch, a belt hook, and a fuel indicator. Because of the lightweight lithium ion battery, the whole package comes in at about 4 lbs. The drill comes with 2 batteries and a 30-minute charger.
Like Ridgid's similar compact 18-volt drill, we're thinking this is going to be popular with a wide range of people. Because it's so lightweight, it won't be intimidating to those who don't use tools all the time and because of its power contractors should love it.
Like the Sub Compact Driver, this tool will be available in October.
September 20, 2007
UPDATE: Our review of Ryobi's 4-Piece Lithium-Ion Kit is here.
We had thought that the new 4-piece Ryobi Lithium Ion kit wouldn't be available for another week, but we were in a local Home Depot today and saw a bunch of them on display. So there you have it. Go out and check them out an let us know what you think. They looked pretty nice to us.
Black & Decker VPX Starter Set
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