Father in law (contractor) is lucky to get one year out of his Dewalt 18V batteries, so you did pretty damn good. When he gets low on batteries, he typically just buys a new tool, as it's just as cheap as buying two new batteries. He's not that impressed with Dewalt, but always says that he is "in too deep" to change brands.

I always felt my Milwalkee stuff was better, but my 18V batteries both died after a year with medium use. After 4 years my 12V Makita impact driver and original batteries are still going strong.

Ryobi rocks. If my $39 "on sale after Thanksgiving" 18v Ryobi drill / driver dies, I'll go buy a fresh one with Li-ion phosphate batteries & roll on. Had DeWalt, Makita & Millwaukee. Ryobi rocks!

i have one of the early 18v dewalts. still kicks arse. drilled off my balljoints just yesterday. i didnt even charge the battery. i bet i havent used the drill in 6 months.

one of my batteries is a black and decker firestorm battery. it cost about 50% less, and since they come from the same place, it fits perfectly. i think dewalt added a tab to eff with us on the newer drill and batteries. if your drill is 9 years old, you have a chance.

Porter Cable here. About eight years and still going strong.

FWIW, I have a 12 yo Dewalt 14.4 that has seen alot of use. I notice the battery packs going dead quicker but still acceptable.

IN my opinion - DeWalt Corded > DeWalt Cordless.

Get the "XPR" batteries - worth the little bit extra. I have the 14.4 drill and it gets used alot.

That said - I bought the Ryobi contractor pack - and bought a few extra tools on ebay. It's friggin beautiful to have one battery that works for 10 different tools.

I have the recriprocating saw, jig saw, circular saw, right angle drill, flashlight, regular drill, shop vacuum and chain saw. I have three batteries including one lithium one that all last on par with the DeWalt or longer.

RickM.....Thanks for the links.