Makita’s 7.2V Li-Ion Monster Screwdriver

The poorly-named TD020DSEW is Makita’s entry into the flourishing li-ion screwdriver market. But it packs a punch: it’s an impact screwdriver. Powered by a removable 7.2V li-ion battery pack and tipping the scales at just over a pound, it delivers a whopping 177 in-lbs of torque. Holy crap, that’s a lot of grunt.
As you can see in the picture, the driver is quite small. It measures 10-7/8” long fully extended and around 8-1/2” when in pistol grip mode. While white isn’t the color we’d pick for shop work, at least it’ll be easy to find if you drop it in a dark room — and it makes for great “white knight” jokes around the office.
It’s great to see impact functionality in this still-quite-popular form factor. Street pricing starts at a reasonable $99.
TD020DSEW 7.2V Li-Ion Impact Screw Driver Kit [Makita]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Weight – 1lb vs. Bosch PS40 – 2.2 lbs
Torque – 177 in-lbs vs. Bosch PS 40 – 800 in-lbs
tooldork, you can’t really compare the two with respect to torque. I suspect that there is something fishy with the 800 in-lb claims.
Bosch’s 24V drill series is only rated at 600 in-lbs while its high torque corded drill claims 767 in-lbs. Another look at Bosch’s driver line reveals even higher torque claims.
All I can think of is that Bosch has a different torque rating system for drills and standalone drivers.
Stuey: There’s nothing fishy at all with the 800 in-lb claims. Remember, these are *impact* drivers. Check out our review of the PS40, including video of a high-torque task. And check out the specs on most 12+ volt impact drivers.
But I agree that this is a much different tool than the PS40. This is smaller and lighter, and would fit in places the PS40 wouldn’t.
Chuck: Agreed that they are different products.
But, the Bosch is only 8″ tall and 6 3/4″ wide and if I’m going to invest I’d prefer to do so with a platform that delivers more power and performs more applications that just driving screws.
You know what, I had the PS40 confused with the pocket driver (doh).
I’ve played w/ this Makita at the Depot’s in Ohio, and ergonomics are all wrong! I like Makita cordless in general, but the forward/reverse switch is in an ackward position, making the tool only good for “righties”….
This impact driver is on sale over at Amazon today (Friday 9/7/07), for $90, saving you ~10% off the street price.
This is a simple screwdriver tool that happens to add in an impact. It is totally different market than the Bosch. The Makita is the strongest and lightest in the electric screwdriver that I have tried. This thing is great.