IIRC blue bosch tools are supposed to be better than green bosch ones. I have a Makita. Drill bits are also important and actually like Bosch multi construction drill bits for drilling into brick.

Ordered a DeWalt one that came with two batteries for £116 - more than I was looking to pay, but you know, false advertising and idiots. Wouldn't have mattered if I'd used an adamantium drill bit with that POS B&D!

AEG, Makita, DeWalt is how the Which top three results go from a survey they did. The differences between the last two are negligible.

However it has to be said the actual tests Which did gave final results for a grand total of 16 'drills' which included impact drivers and items at £300 or so... I mean what hope is there when Which can't even get it together ffs.

Before I bought a combi drill and impact driver twinset, I researched it all through forums and youtube. Makita was most popular amongst tradesmen. Festool are creme de la creme but hideously expensive. Hilti, Milwakee, Hitachi, Metabo and Bosch blue are all trade-rated too. I bought a kit with an impact driver. It's useful but I rarely use it.

Looking back, it would have made more sense for me to buy two combi drills - one for drilling and one for screwdriving. It would mean less hassle having to switch between twist drill bit and screwdriver bit holder. I tried using the impact driver for screwdriving after drilling pilot holes or for screwing in screws into wall plugs and it was too powerful and uncontrolled.

Two batteries make a lot of difference - one can be on charge whilst you're using the other one. I've also bought a cordless orbital sander and a cordless jigsaw which have helped. But I need some more tools and saving up the £££ - on my wish list is a circular saw (which would have made my life easier with trimming down things like floorboards and doors), SDS combi drill (to drill through concrete blocks and lintels), and a router (to help wit DIY projects).

As for Which?, I'm a little more cynical with them. I bought a Which-recommended Bosch washing machine for about £400-450. Three years later and it's vibrating on spin settings. Likely a bearing needs replacing. If it had lasted five years. I'd have been happier. As it is, I'm going to have either fork out a couple of hundred quid to get someone to repair it, attempt a repair myself, or chuck it and buy a new one.

I've no idea why impact drivers are sold alongside combi drills tbh, it's like carrying around a compact camera when the phone you already have does the job better overall.

Know what you mean about swapping and changing.

I already had a corded hammer drill but I'm sick of running an extension cable round this [LIFTED].

Yeah, my finger might have slipped on the mouse, causing me to accidentally buy myself a new snowboard.

For the first time ever it's a really good one rather than just something that I can afford.

Shame most of the ski slopes in Austria and Germany seem to be closed due to too much snow at the moment...

Where are you planning to go?

Japan

Europe is too busy and (when you get there) expensive.
Yes it cost a lot to fly to Japan, but the slopes are quieter and the powder is deep.

Sorry, Phil, haven't had a chance to do this yet. Spent a month off work, really ill. I am moving all of my gear into the new IT room, hopefully this weekend. Do you still need this printing?

Again, no pressure, but if you want to take the printer for a spin I'd be happy to receive the end result!

Hope you're feeling better now. Doesn't sound like anything pleasant that requires a month off work!

Playstation Classic - Absolute [LIFTED].


20 questionable games compared to what it could have had.

It can only be put into standby mode; apparently wanting to switch it off is crazy, man.

It uses 5V USB for power, so chances are your TV USB port won't cut it. No adapter is provided, plus you'll need a plug socket.

Every cable that comes with it is way too short, including the controllers.

Two original controllers, instead of, say, one dualshock. Consequently most games are an exercise in contemporary persistence.


I obviously knew some of the above, but even at £30 that's a whole lotta nonsense. Needless to say the machine is now easily hackable, which is where I came in

Classic has now been hacked, wireless controller adapter on it's way...

AVM Repeater 3000 - utter w**k. It crashes every time you try and put a high volume of data through it. It hung when I tried updating my PCs, then it hung again when I tried to update my laptop to 1903 and it hung again this morning downloading a couple of Linux ISOs - I crashed it deliberately this morning as the manufacturer's support wanted to see the logs when the device crashed.

400L Barrel for rain water - we bought a pair of these yesterday at the local DIY shop, they were 30% cheaper than buying online! Great so far, they look much better than the green rain water containers we've had so far.

Raspi 3+ - I'm using it with Pi-Hole as a DNS server with blacklists for tracking, advertising and Facebook. Stable and reliable.

Best - Oculus Rift S. The immersion in Project Cars 2 (with a wheel) and Elite Dangerous (with a HOTAS) is amazing.

Time to get really rolling.

Currently loving the Siege Transformer figures and just had a salted caramel Galaxy McFlurry where you could actually taste the difference, cos most salted caramel items are bollocks.