# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  TradeTools 'Renegade' Li-Ion Cordless Tools - Opinions?

## SteveAndBelle

Hi. 
Been thinking about getting one of those Li-Ion multipacks from either Hitachi or Makita.  Looking at one of the more basic packs including a Drill, Impact Driver, Circular Saw, Jigsaw and at least 2-3 batteries.  I'm OK with paying the brand-name premium as I've had Hitachi gear in the past and it's been amazing _however_ I just saw the 'Renegade' branded stuff on the TradeTools website for around half the price and was wondering if anyone could give me their opinion on it?  Is it just as good or can I expect half the quality? 
I'm torn because although I can afford to get the brand-name stuff and have had great experience with it in the past I've also had some pretty amazing rebadged no-name cheap gear in recent years and feel that the age of brand devotion is coming to an end... and of course saving 50% on power tools shouldn't be sneezed at ;) 
Thanks in advance.

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## METRIX

I believe Renegade is an exclusive brand to TradeTools, My preference would be to get one of the bigger manufacturers which is available everywhere instead of at a few selected outlets.
It makes it easier if something goes wrong, you can take the big names to any service centre. 
Also there has been a lot of debate about cordless circluar saws, my personal view is I wouldnt waste your money on them if you expect it to be a replacement for a corded one, because they are not, they don't have enough guts and chew through the batteries quickly. 
I woud go for an 18V impact / drill driver kit from on of the brands you mentioned , I think Makita currenlty still have a free 3rd battery deal going. 
For a circular saw I can highly recommend the Makita 5606 160mm 240v circular saw, these are light and cut very cleanly, and will cut all day long, they have a smaller cutting depth of around 55mm but this will do for most jobs you might come across, and will still be going when your cordless version has destroyed all your expensive batteries. 
Unfortunately you get what you pay for when it comes to power tools, and NONE of the brands make their tools to the quality they used to in the past, Traditional German brands have now shipped a lot of their stuff to China. 
You will find posts regarding the drop of quality of Makita over the years, but there is now some Makita appearing on the shelves from Japan, possibky they are listening to their buyers ?

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## SteveAndBelle

Thanks for that Metrix. 
Yeah, I never expected much from a cordless Circular Saw however I recently saw some builders (building my new house in fact) using a few Makitas a lot for pine studs, pine noggins, CF sheet, WeatherTex Sheet & Weatherboards and bracing ply and was pretty impressed.  Definitely not for big cuts in hardwood or those 'cuts that matter' or to be used non-stop all day but very convenient for light duty work.  Not a replacement for a 240V of course. 
Good point about killing the batteries prematurely though, I should've thought of that as I'm guilty of puffing up a brand new $350 LiPo pack a few years ago in my brushless RC car by pulling way more current than it was rated for.  This was very early on in LiPo technology and there's a lot more protection available now plus they're a heck of a lot cheaper to boot but yeah that kinda hurt.  Melted my RC car too but I had it back up and running in no time with a quick chassis replacement, the rest was fine.  Managed to pull a genuine 101kph out of it a few weeks later but with a new pack & proper ESC tuning, the other pack was completely dead  :Frown:  
Hmm, I might continue to investigate the Makita/Hitachi stuff then.  One of them would still have to make stuff in Japan surely and going by the previous Hitachi stuff they seem to have very good quality packs & chargers to boot.

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## METRIX

yeah the cordless circulars are good for battens and light duty but not much else, i find you tend to think a cordless anything is a direct replacement for a corded and some things are but others are not. 
Made in Japan, think not, neither has made tools for the AUS market in Japan for a long time, but saying that I picked up a new Makita planer last week, all display models were chinese, but i found 2 brand new stock on the shelf made in Japan, very rare. 
A lot of the higher end stuff is Japan but mass sellers are all chinese, Hitachi switched to Malaysia & China long before they went to the "I was designed by someone on ACID" rubbber look for all their tools. 
The other good thing with going for a bigger brand is extra batteries etc can be found in a lot more places and competitive prices, "if you can call the rediculious prices they charge for batteries competitive" considering they must make millions of the packs. 
I have been looking at the Bosch Blue range for kangos etc, made in germany and far more advanced than the others for vibration supression, manufacturing technology etc, and at better prices. 
i have found the two tools which have demolished a lot of our batter packs are the cordless recirp, then the circular, they use too much current and the packs dont appear to be made to sustain quick discharges for long before they start to show shortened life. 
We have stopped using the recipros as they were the worst culprit, and have gone back to 240v verions, and milwalkee as they offered a 5 year warranty ! 
I can recommend the little makit 160mm circular, it is a nice saw and has a good reputation by those that have them.

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