Well, after many years of consideration, I finally did it. I invested in my new toy, the Bosch GSR 10.8 V-LI. $110.21 out of my pocket and into those of Teck Cheong Hardware. FYI, the same at Home Fix, is $120.
I did consider the $73 Bosch IXO, which is much cuter, lighter and handier, but at 3.6 volts, hardly any power.
The 10.8 volt GSR looks like a gun, feels like a gun, has a holster that can be clipped onto your belt like a gun, is heavier, and feels less like a toy.
The GSR also has an LED lamp when you activate the trigger. This is really useful when working in dark areas.
One of the reasons why I decided to commit to a cordless device is this: Both these cordless tools come with Li-Ion batteries. The same kind of batteries used in mobile phones. These batteries, compared to NiMh batteries, do not have a memory effect.
While this doesn’t trouble professionals who use tools everyday and have to charge their devices at the end of the day when the battery has mostly discharged, NiMh is really bad news for occasional users.
When you charge up an NiMH battery, and use it once, it retains the memory of that amount – say 99.5%. After many months, you pull out the battery and you want to use it. But it’s been discharged. So you charge it up. But with NiMH, it charges from say, 95%, not 0%. And you find your battery life decreasing away. This is why with NiMH batteries, you have to use them until discharged before charging them up again.
With Li-Ion batteries, you charge them up whenever you want. Indeed you should not let a Li-Ion battery fully discharge before charging.
The GSR actually has a function that will stop the tool from being used when the battery is almost discharged. This prevents damage to the battery.
Of course, any power tool needs some accessories. The most common screw heads are provided as part of my set. But one set that the seller originally took out, didn’t have any screw heads. The one at Home Fix didn’t have any either.
I bought a chuck head with hex shaft. Basically, this allows me to add anything that can be clamped to a chuck to my GSR, and that includes drill bits. Yes, I can use the GSR to drill softer woods and thinner metals. I think that’s pretty cool. I will also need to see if I can add a cutter to the GSR. That would be plenty fun.
After charging up the GSR for an hour (full charge), I assembled my father’s Benno CD tower. Can I just say, apart from the initial stumbling block of using a electric screwdriver for the first time, the GSR really made light work of DIY. I can testify, that I did not expend any energy, break sweat or blisters to put together this thing.
Indeed, the GSR initially controlled me. Using a manual screwdriver, one has to move the screwdriver. But I didn’t hold the GSR firmly enough and when it turned the head, my arm turned with it also. Boy, I must’ve looked stupid even to the dogs. I finally got the hang of it, after 5 minutes of idiocy. Just hold still and firm in position.