Dealmonger: Free Cordless Screwdriver With $300 Hitachi Purchase At Amazon

I can hear you now. You’re saying, “Who cares about a free frickin’ screwdriver when I’m spending $300?” Answer: you! This isn’t just any run-of-the-mill cordless screwdriver. It’s Hitachi’s DB3DL 3.6V li-ion model, which I reviewed for Wired a while back. It wasn’t the best of the test group, but it did drive a whopping 169 screws on a single charge — and it normally retails for around $80.
The bottom line: if you’ve been thinking about picking up a few Hitachi tools — like their great routers or their kick-ass compound miter saw — Amazon’ll throw in a free (and decent) $80 screwdriver to sweeten the deal. Shop carefully.
My Hitachi DB3DL Review [Wired’s Gadget Lab]
Hitachi Tool Via Amazon [What’s this?]
Is this bloody thing a prop for another sequel in the Alien movie series?
I think I waxed poetic about this screwdriver a while back. I got mine free at Lowe’s in January with my Hitachi Combo Kit and have since come to call it one of my favorite “go-to” tools.
Alas, this weekend I picked it up to tighten some screws on my kitchen cabinet hinges and what should I find? No reverse. The switch seems to have gone out on me.
I love this thing. I hope it didn’t just prove disposable.
Steve: Funny — as you can read in Wired, the one I reviewed lost the transmission switch. You had to hold the switch to keep it in gear. Other than that (and a funky trigger position) I liked it.
I was not impressed with this tool AT ALL. I bought mine at Lowe’s at the end of the summer, as I was in the market for a compact lithium-ion driver. It’s got enough power for very VERY light duty work, but it definitely didn’t meet my expectations. The review in Wired said something about driving 169 screws – YEAH RIGHT, were they driving tiny little 1″ screws?? I’ve heard the claims made by Bosch – “100 3-inch screws with one battery”. So I decided to give it a try. For $130, I LOVE IT! Oh, and the other weekend I tossed the Hitachi tool outside for my dog to fetch. I haven’t seen it since.