Makita LXDT06 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Quick-Shift Mode 3-Speed Impact Driver Kit

I am just at the beginning of my power tools collection. So while I'm still new at all this, I may be able to explain things in more simplified terms to people that don't know exactly what they are doing. I made this purchase through the influence of my brother who is a handyman and has used several different brands very heavily. I too have used a few other brands, but nothing that even comes close to this. My brother also said; if he had to pick just 1 power tool, it would be an impact driver, which is why I decided to go with this one first.It is important to note that this is an impact driver, not a drill. For the less home-depot inclined people, that means it uses a hammering impact motion, along with a drilling motion for greater power when drilling. Don't let the hammering description scare you away; while it can be loud, it's very helpful. I can often times get away with neglecting to drill pilot holes into studs and just drive screws straight into them with very little effort. You really only hear the impact motion when there's a lot of pressure on it and you're getting near the end of the screw. It also has what I believe is called a "quick chuck" where the driver and drill bits are quick release. You have to make sure you buy "impact ready" driver and drill bits for this, as regular ones will not work unless you get an adapter. The last major feature of this impact driver is that it is "brushless" which means instead of having a wire brush connection it uses a different type of connection that results in more power and efficiency. I don't understand exactly how it works, but it's evident that you get a lot more power and the greatest efficiency I've ever seen in a cordless power tool. These were all new things for me, so I just wanted to help educate the next person that might be interested in this impact driver.One other note is that this LXDT06 is the most current model as of 8-19-2014. I made the mistake of purchasing the LXDT01 instead of the LXDT06, so I had to return LXDT01 and buy the LXDT06 instead. The 3 major differences between the LXDT01 and the LXDT06 are the battery indicator, the quick-shift mode, and the dust/water rating. The battery indicator is a huge help because then you don't have to guess how full your battery is before taking it somewhere. The quick-shift mode basically allows you to start with full power and then it backs the power down a bit once it feels more resistance, so that you don't end up stripping or breaking screws. (It's actually a 4th mode, so you have low, med, high, and quick-shift modes) The last major update is what Makita calls XPT (extreme protection technology) (they just had to make an acronym for it, didn't they?) It is basically just sealed better than the last model to further resist dust and water. This is always a good thing because usually there is dust when drilling and you never know when it's going to rain.Now that the basics are out of the way, let's do a pros and cons list. Those are always good, right?Pros:The power on this thing is incredible (1500 inch lbs). It can power through anything I have been able to throw at it and still wants more.It's compact and light. Another reason to go with an impact driver over a drill is that they are way more compact, which allows you to get things done in smaller spaces. It also makes it easy to carry around for an extended period of time without feeling loaded down.It has an LED light. The light is very sufficiently bright, and always casts light in the perfect spot of what you are working on. Even with headlamps, it's sometimes hard when you end up blocking your own light, but this light is in the perfect spot to always shine on what you're doing.Holy battery life, I have been using this thing for several weeks on a single charge. Granted, I'm not building a house, but I can't believe how long the battery life is! The lithium-ion batteries are also great because of the very slow discharge; I do not have to constantly charge it without even using it, like previous power tools I have used. Also they weren't kidding about the increased efficiency of the brushless motor. I never expected to have this much power and attain greater battery life at the same time. Also I wanted to note that it does come with 2 batteries. When I ordered it, the picture only showed 1 battery, but it appears they have fixed that. I just wanted to clarify for any of you wanting to make sure.I really like the charger. It is a smart charger, so it won't overcharge your batteries. Also it has a fan to help regulate the temperature of the batteries to give them a longer overall life. One more feature is that it has 3 charging intervals. The first is a red light, which means it's charging, then the green and red light will be on, which means you can take it off and use it, and the last is just green which means it's fully charged. It basically allows you to get full power with less of a charge if you're in a hurry.It's made in Japan. The manufacturing processes and the quality control in Japan are vastly superior to that of Chinese made goods. I am happy that Makita still has some of their tools made in Japan and I will seek those tools out.The belt clip is really solid and nice. It helps to have a way to free up both of your hands without having to find a place to set the impact driver.The glow ring around the chuck. It's not absolutely necessary, but it could help you find your impact driver in a dark room.It comes with a hard-sided case!I love the Makita teal color.Cons:The first con is something that other reviewers have mentioned and that is the driver direction switch is sometimes accidentally hit while you're working. Your thumb can ride up on it and you can accidentally press it. It's not a huge deal, but it's worth noting that it has happened to me too.The second con is something that is just a necessary evil of a quick chuck. Since it's a quick release chuck, there is definitely some play in the drivers and bits. You can't depend on drilling a perfect quality hole every time, because you can't get a drill bit to stay in the quick chuck nearly as solid as you would a traditional chuck. It's just the nature of a quick chuck, you sacrifice some precision for convenience, but it's worth it to me. I really don't need to be that precise with the kind of work I'm doing and this should be more than sufficient for 90% of the tasks out there. It just isn't great for precise detail work.Unfortunately the Makita drill/driver bit set didn't get that great of reviews so I went with 2 sets from other brands. I have been very happy with them so far and they have covered all of my needs:Milwaukee Shockwave Impact Duty 35 Piece Drill and Driver Bits: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ON0VJO/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1Irwin Tools Black Oxide Hex Shank Drill bits: (this was to supplement the Milwaukee set, because it didn't come with very many drill bit sizes)http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046H0MQ0/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1Conclusion:All-in-all I wish I had purchased this years ago (although this model wouldn't have been out yet). It is the best power tool I have ever used. I'm glad I didn't just get a cheap one and regret it every time I had to use it. I have used cheap power tools in the past and it just isn't worth the hassle. You could buy 5 cheap power tools and hate them the whole time, or buy 1 nice power tool and actually enjoy using it.Please comment if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them.Update: I did want to add that currently as of 8-20-2014 my local Home Depot or Lowes doesn't even carry any brushless Makita power tools yet. So in order to get the most updated model, ordering online may be your only choice.

Love the build quality, fit, finish, and technology in this tool. When you click the charger in, it is connected solidly. The tool has rubberized protective coatings wherever you can lay down the tool. The brushless technology allows a battery to last a week, depending on your workload.I haven't bought a cordless tool for awhile, and was pleasantly surprised by the Makita quick charger. For one thing, it's the first battery charger I've seen with a built-in cooling fan. Not only that, but the charger will emit a musical tone once charging is complete. You can choose between four different tunes. The tone is loud and long enough so that you can still hear it if you are far from the charger. In fact, the musical passage is so long, I thought it would continue until you remove the charger from the unit!I highly recommend the Makita impact socket kit and the Impact Gold #2 bit kit. The socket kit looks smallish on the web, but it includes several large sockets which can handle anything you encounter. It comes with a high quality socket adapter that you can use wobble style or fixed. The Impact Gold #2 kit comes with a neat Neodynium magnet attachment that holds the longest screws tight so it won't fall off the bit. The advantage of the Makita magnet attachment is it allows interchangeable bits, unlike the Hitachi attachment which only comes with a #2 Phillips bit.I might add that the case that comes with the impact driver is designed to hold the impact socket kit and the Impact Gold bit kit, which folds for compactness. When placed in the case, everything is designed so there is no metal-to-metal contact to cause scratches on the tool when the case is lifted and transported. Left in the case is still plenty of space for other accessories, such as a drill chuck attachment.

I have been a bit behind the times on cordless technology and have still been using my trusty Dewalt 18v drill driver that I picked up in a kit some 15 years ago. Before that I had one of the original Makita long handled cordless drivers, which was one of the first decent cordless drills on the market, if you remember those. The new cordless impact drivers blow any previous cordless drills away. They are lighter, better balanced, and much more powerful than anything from the past. The new L-ion battery technology and brushless motors are miles ahead of the old, with the battery charge lasting a very long time. After borrowing an older model of this driver out on a job site from a coworker I knew I had to have one. The attached hangar hook is a nice touch, and can be mounted on either side of the drill. The only thing I could fault this driver for, and it may not ever become an issue, is the speed selector/battery meter is an electronic membrane switch, that may or may not hold up to years of abuse. I would have liked to have seen a more mechanical type of selection for this feature as I usually don't have good luck with overly complicated electronics. Highly recommend this driver.

i would give this no stars if i could. i love makita products i purchased the lxdt06 when it came in it looked a bit rough as if it wasn't new. To speed thing up i purchased another one because i decided to return the first. just got the 2nd one and it looks up to spec i go to try it out motor DOES NOT ENGAGE , AND YES I TOOK THE TIME TO CHARGE BATTERY AND IT IT NOT LOCKED. Not to happy I really wanted to and this impact driver to my tools now i don't know if i would try to buy it A 3RD TIME MAKITA WHATS GOING ON.