In case you missed it in our Home Depot Black Friday 2013 tool deals listing, this Dewalt 20V Max compact drill/driver kit will be on sale for just $99 throughout the season. It comes with a 20V Max 1/2″ drill, (2) Li-ion batteries, a charger, and kit bag.
This kit is the DCD771C2, which is a little different than their DCD780C2 kit. The DCD780C2 kit is currently $169 via Home Depot.
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When this post was first published, we wrote that we believed the DCD771 was a close derivative of the DCD780. However, it has come to light that the two drills are very different designs. The DCD771 is a little less featured and less powerful, and was designed to appeal to customers with tighter budgets.
We reviewed the Dewalt 20V Max DCD780 compact drill kit a while back, and the drill proved itself to be a quite comfortable and capable design. If you are looking for a Dewalt 20V Max drill with more features and greater power, we still strongly recommend the DCD780.
Thanks to comments from DKing and Scotty, and an email from a Dewalt rep, we have a much clearer understanding about how this drill, which is confirmed to be the DCD771, differs from the “standard” DDCD780 drill.
Compared to the 20V Max DCD780 drill, the DCD771 is:
- a little longer (8.7″ vs. 7.5″)
- a little heavier (3.6 lbs vs 3.4 lbs)
- a little less powerful (300 UWO vs. 350 UWO)
- a little slower (0-450/0-1500 RPM vs. 0-600/0-2000 RPM)
- bundled with 1.3Ah batteries vs. 1.5Ah
- bundled with a slower 20V Max charger (60 mins vs. 30 mins)
- bundled with a contractor bag instead of a hard plastic case
The DCD771 has a 1/2″ ratcheting single sleeve chuck, built-in LED worklight, and 16 clutch settings.
This model was designed in the same spirit as Dewalt’s DC970K-2 NiCd kit, which is exceptionally popular every year. A lot of customers are okay with the size/power/features tradeoff because it means for substantially lower pricing.
There will be a couple of pro-brand $99 Li-ion drill/driver kits this year, such as the Bosch 18V drill deal we recently discussed. But unlike this Dewalt drill deal and that Bosch deal, many 18V Li-ion drill/driver special buys at the $100 price point only come with one battery pack, not two.
If you’re looking for a new cordless power drill and are on a limited budget, this looks to be a good deal.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
Compare(via Amazon)
Compare(via Lowes)
Be sure to check out our other Black Friday 2013 tool deals and regular deals sections for more deals like this one.
At the $100 price point, pro-grade brands typically produce one of three 18V/20V Max drill kit options for the holiday season: a 2-battery NiCd kit, a 1-battery Li-ion kit, or a 2-battery Li-ion kit.
In this case, you get a lower-spec’ed drill with 2-batteries. If you opt for a 1-battery kit, you often get a regular-line product, but buying a second battery will typically reduce your net savings to nil. Going with Dewalt’s NiCd will save you $10 more, but in my opinion buying into NiCd at this point is a mistake.
If you’re in the market for a $100 drill kit, the decision will therefore come down to a higher-spec’ed 1-battery drill kit, or lower-spec’ed 2-battery drill kit. In our opinion, a 2nd battery is more valuable than a bump-up in features and specs.
What did we do? We opted for a regular-line drill/driver and impact driver 2-battery kit. That way there was no compromise, but of course this option comes with costs.
Caleb
Does anyone know if the 20V MAX chargers/batteries are cross compatible? Craftsman Bolt-on, Black & Decker, Porter Cable, Stanley, and Dewalt batteries (and many tools) all look the same and appear to be manufactured at the same place. It would be great to be able to buy whatever is the better deal and/or buy better tools for more demanding tasks and cheaper ones for less intensive needs.
Stuart
They’re not.
Seth
Except for Craftsman Bolt-On and B&D 20V MAX, which are the same.
Hang Fire
Across brands, no. There is a Combo deWalt 12V/20V Max charger.
Jimmy Conklin
Actually, I tried changing out the Craftsman Bolt-On and the Black and Decker Matrix batteries and heads. They are interchangeable and work fine as I can tell. The chargers work with the other brand as well. Find the cheapest charger, battery, or head and the brand doesn’t matter between the two.
Stuart
Craftsman Bolt-On and Black & Decker Matrix modular power tool products are compatible with each other.
But Dewalt, Porter Cable, and Black & Decker 20V Max products are not compatible with the each other’s tools or batteries.
Caleb
Thanks.
I was wondering because the battery slot on the tools look the same on all of them (killing time at HD the other day). I have not been able to examine the batteries on any of the Dewalt, Stanley, or Porter Cable products yet. Did they put something on them so that they will not slide on? Is it more of a programming thing?
Stuart
I just tried to slide a Dewalt 20V Max battery pack onto a Porter Cable 20V Max tool. There’s a physical block that prevents the battery from sliding all the way on. I’m sure this is the case across Stanley Black & Decker’s other cordless lines.
Caleb
That makes sense, from a misplaced marketing idea. I am sure the plan is to get you to buy more tools.
It only makes me more likely to jump do a different companies tools when it is time to upgrade. If I have to get new batteries and chargers anyway, why not?
Seth
The bolt-on 20V packs interchange with Black+Decker 20V Max power tools, battery packs, and powered lawn and garden products.
You are right about the PC and Dewalt 20V packs – those are keyed different from B&D 20V Max and Bolt-On 20V Max.
George
This is a good deal too Dewalt 18v NiCD
Battery is not Li-ion thought.
Stuart
Amazon has it for $90, and Sears will offer it for the same price as part of their Black Friday sale.
I see little point in buying NiCd power tools these days when Li-ion is available. For $10 more, this is a far better deal. Plus the tool is smaller, lighter, and more ergonomically designed.
Javier
Good deal. I might just stand in line to get one. It isn’t the dcd780 drill though. It looks a little off. Side by side pictures will tell you. It’s missing the black plastic behind the clutch and a black bumper. Housing looks slightly different as well. When I first seen the picture I thought it was a 12v drill.
Stuart
I thought the same, but double checked and it does say 1/2″ chuck 20V Max drill/driver.
Good eye about the missing bumpers. There’s also no belt clip.
If it’s not the DCD780, then it will probably at least be a close derivative.
Brian14
They’re always selling drills for $99 during the holidays – got an 18V Dewalt and two batteries for that price last year at Sears.
scottyd
This is a dcd770. Total JUNK! Under powered and very large just a cheap dewalt starter for diyers
DKing
It looks to be the DCD771, whatever that is. Is it a close derivative of the DCD780 as Stuart predicted?
Home Depot sells it for $99 now, not just on Black Friday. http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-20-Volt-Max-Lithium-Ion-Cordless-Drill-Driver-Kit-DCD771C2/204279858
Over at Lowe’s ($149) they list it as being
– lower power (300 UWO vs. of 350)
– different speeds (0-450/1,500 RPM vs. of 0-600/0-2000rpm),
– slower charger (1 hr. DCB106 “compact charger” vs. 30 min. DCB 101)
– slightly heavier and larger
– 16 vs. 15 clutch settings
– 2 yr. warranty on the battery vs. 3 yr.
Lowe’s often gets their specs. wrong though, so who knows. If you find more information please post it. Thanks.
DKing
I forgot the Lowe’s link: http://www.lowes.com/pd_506283-70-DCD771C2_0__?productId=50040962
Stuart
Thanks for the information! A Dewalt rep also sent in additional details about the DCD771 kit.
It looks like the DCD771 is a different animal than the DCD780, and not a derivative as I had originally thought.
Jason
I think the DCD771 is supposed to be the replacement for the the cheap non xrp nicad drill they used to offer at different times at the 89-99 dollar price point around the big tool sale holidays. This new drill isn’t bad for light duty contractor/homeowner use.
Stuart
Someone wrote in asking if the DCD771 is a brushless drill. No, it is not.
P.S. For anyone that emails in, please include a working email address so that my responses don’t get bounced back.
Dany
Hi there . Where can I find replacement brushes for dcd771?
Brian
I just bought a 771 with DCB106 charger. When I plug in a battery, the left side of the light flashes once or twice then the right side slowly dims away — does not stay on like the documentation says it should. Is this behavior normal?
James
Brian, I have the same indicators as you have with my 771/DCB106 except
I have 2 dead batteries now that will not recharge after leaving them
on the charger over night. I thought the charger would time out when the charge was full. Both batteries were fine until this last incident.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Stuart
Your best bet will be to contact Dewalt, especially if the batteries and charger are still under warranty. They might be able to offer you troubleshooting advice.
James
Thanks Stuart, I’m also wondering if I purchase a DCD780 D2 kit
or the DCD771C2 kit will the batteries that come with the either
kit be used on my current DCD771. My thinking is I’ll have 2 drills
now plus a good charger for less money that trying to replace
the bad batteries and or charger.
Stuart
Yes, the DCD780D2 batteries will work with your DCD771, and will be higher capacity, too.