Lithium vs. NiCd 18v batteries

[Traildust]

My old cordless is worn out and looking to by a new one.

The drills are identical with the exception to the batteries.
Are the Lithiums worth an extra $ 60 over the NiCd batteries?

[JonBoy]

Absolutely!!!...We use lithiums out at our place on our power tools and they'll last the weekend of hard use with no recharge...they just go and go and go...

[muzzlebrake]

Lits last longer on a charge but don't run them down to less than 10% charge or they might be ruined---DOA

[huntinfool]

We have both and the Lithium batteries have died. I think they got down past the 10% charge as posted above. The nicads have worked and some of those have died also. But they did last much longer than the Lithium. The Lithium batteries had a better charge and seemed to be stronger and when using them they do run for a long time.

[Birddogss]

I run the makita lithium ones everyday all day for the last three years and have had not one issue with the batteries life!!!! Charge quick last a long time and great power!!

[nanny_slammer]

just bought a lithium de walt and it seems to work great, spent 2000 bucks at lowes yesterday and needless to say i go a couple of them along with other cool tools for my ag shop this year

[CapnKirk]

The lithium also do not retain a memory when you recharge them. Once fully charged, they are like brand new.

[Artos]

They have their pro's and cons and would like to see the lith. prove themselves a bit longer in the power tool market. There have been some safety issues with most the companies and they are much more volatile if the batt. mfg. did not do their job / assembly correctly. A lot of the tool companies did not even redesign their tools to work with lith batts, just slapped them in and called them new and improved.

My preference is to have a whole bunch of 18v nicad dewalt batts and just keep switching. Until the lith price comes down, there is no advantage for me. The new DeWALT chargers will work on both which is cool. Most of my buddies from the company are staying with nicad because even at their cost, lith is a little painful on the wallet.

[Traildust]

Thanks guys...Think I'm gonna go with the NiCd 18v.....After reading reviews from several places, the lithium doesnt seem worth the extra cash and have problems like ya'll have said.........plus I can buy an extra NiCd battery for the same price and have (3) for my drill