I think this little screwdriver (and I do mean little) is great. I like it when people start off positive instead of always focusing on the negative. Why is it great?
It is compact! I have very large hands, and the handle is shorter than the depth of my grip. Is this a problem? I thought it would be, but thanks to the huge trigger it was comfortable. This screwdriver comes in a round black soft case that features the SKIL logo. Inside you have the charger, a little ziplock chock full of bits, and the screwdriver itself. Its so nice to have a small package like this case containing everything. The entire case will fit perfect into most people's repair kits. You get the benefit of a Lithium Ion Battery which essentially doesn't loose a charge, at least nowhere near like nicads do. I refuse to buy any nicad power tools anymore.
Now for the not-great... This little baby does not carry a huge punch in a small package. It does not have the power of a drill, so don't think you can drill holes with it in anything more than super soft pine(or balsa wood). I bought this primarily for a project to hang a pot and pan rack, and to replace my old black and decker nicad model that died on me. I needed to drill six 2 1/2 inch drywall screws through 1" pine and into a stud(most likely spruce). I tried, just to test, drilling without a pilot hole through the pine board. It did it just fine. It would not, however, drill into the harder wood of the stud. I then pre-drilled a hole through the pine board and into the stud, leaving maybe a half inch at the end undrilled. The skil screwdriver put the screw in without issue until it hit that last 1/2 inch and couldn't do it. so I did a third test drilling a full 3 inches through, and then used the skil to finish. it did the job fine.
To sum up my test...don't expect this screwdriver to be a miracle device. from my tests, it handled terrific for most household tasks. drilling into drywall to hang a picture, put up a fixture, etc... this screwdriver will handle fine. putting together anything will pre-drilled holes, it'll handle fine. If you loose touch and think this is a professional grade tool you'd use on a construction site, it will not do fine.
I recommend this tool to ANY computer repair tech out there. If you need to open up computer cases and replace parts, or work on any consumer electronic devices, this tool is perfect. It's small enough to fit into a portable repair kit. For home, it also is good as a quick fix screwdriver that can be kept in a kitchen drawer.
I'm going to keep mine for just those casual uses... however I ended up using my full sized drill outfitted with the extension and bits from the skil screwdriver to do my pots and pans project. I could drill in the drywall screws without needing to pilot them first. (I just rolled the screws in soap first to reduce the chance it would split the stud underneath. the soap trick also eliminates the squealing sound of dry drilling wood).
this screwdriver easily deserves 4 stars for what it is...a casual screwdriver. It's not a home project screwdriver by any means if you plan on building cabinets, etc... you're best off for a meatier cordless in the 10+ volt range that doubles as a drill. At only 20 to 50 bucks more than this, it may be a better alternative too.
However,
for what this screwdriver is meant to do, it does it. Get more detail about
Skil 2336-02 iXO 3.6-Volt Cordless Screwdriver.
