In the category of battery powered portable tools, a new addition was made to the global collection. Not really woodworking but for use around the house. 

This tool is not part of the collection.Nope, its not woodworking related, but it subscribe to minimizing the battery technology/manufacturer that I use.  

History

The previous edge trimmer had 2 batteries that died after winter storage. It left me on my appetite with the performance of the batteries.  The charger said the battery was fine, but when in the tool, no power.  I did not pay too much for the edge trimmer.   The batteries used were also part of a cordless system. One battery technology for multiple tools

The failure of 2 battery left me on my appetite and was really not keen to buy again.  

Change 

About 2 weeks ago, I changed my drill/impact combo to another Dewalt set to replace my previous set.  The reason of changing was 2 fold....  Battery getting old and a refresh of tool technology. 

I looked into multiple manufacturer, having in the back of my mind the expandability of the tools that I could buy later. Using the same battery technology and voltage across the tools was a major plus. The tools had to perform, but was looking into the expandability too of other battery powered tools. 

I really had specific tools I was looking into and garden tools was in scope. The one that offered the most and was available in my region, close by was Dewalt.  

The kit

So the original kit was the combo of a drill (just a straight drill, hammer was not a necessity) and an impact driver with batteries and charger.  The classical combo kit of battery powered portable tools.  I went with a brushless kit, not the XR but just the brushless kit which came with 2 x 1.3Ah batteries.  For my use, this capacity would suite the bill.  I would also benefit of the brushless which is more efficient.  

When the edge trimmer battery died, I was time to pull the trigger for expanding on the same manufacturer and potentially gain on an extra battery. Of extra capacity would be a very nice plus.  I gained a 5 Ah battery that if I needed extra capacity in the shop, I have the battery and can use it all year long.  

Performance 

Well I can say that all 3 tool upgrade are really an upgrade.  For the drill/impact driver, they are smaller and lighter and preform great.  I do not have numbers to compare the set, but they feel much better and will get more run time then the previous set before.  

For the edge trimmer, when selecting a model, I decided to go with an upgrade in size as I can have some terrain to cover.  So for this one, no real comparison on the performance.  This one is really an upgrade in size and performance.  

So all in all, I am very happy with the choices I made so far.  Very nice to have good tools and offers performance gain when needed.