DeWalt DCD777 20V MAX Drill/Driver Review: The Right First "Real" Drill
Everybody's first drill is a hand-me-down or a big-box special that dies in a year. If you're ready to stop replacing drills, the DeWalt DCD777 is a smart place to plant your flag — brushless power at a price that doesn't make you wince.
Here's why the "brushless" part matters, in plain terms: an older drill has carbon brushes that rub, wear out, and waste power as heat. Brushless drops the brushes entirely. You get more run time per charge, more power on tap, and a motor that lasts years longer. On this drill it puts out 340 UWO — DeWalt's way of rating real drilling grunt — which is plenty for driving screws, boring holes, and mixing the occasional small batch.
The two-speed gearbox is the part you'll actually use every day: 0–500 RPM when you want torque and control for driving fasteners, and 0–1,750 RPM when you want to bore through wood fast. The half-inch chuck takes bigger bits than the cheap 3/8" units, it weighs only about 2.6 pounds so your wrist isn't dead by lunch, and the LED at the base lights up dark corners.
If you're buying into a cordless lineup for the first time, this is a foundation you won't outgrow next season. Get the kit with two batteries and you're working the day it lands.