Home Depot's Ryobi One+ Renovator Combo-An Affordable 18V Rechargeable Tool Combo for Home Projects
Written: Jan 28 '07 (Updated Feb 11 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Price, all around performance
Cons: Poorly designed tool bag, too few bits and blades included
The Bottom Line: If you're considering buying a set of rechargeable tools for home repair/renovation, this is the first set you should consider. An excellent choice for first time cordless tool buyers.
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| nc10's Full Review: |
If you try to handle as many of your own home maintenance and home improvement jobs as possible, you’ll quickly accumulate a fairly extensive set of power tools. Although I’ve had a couple of different 12V cordless drills for several years, when we embarked on project to replace the carpeting (mostly with laminate flooring) and wallpaper (with paint) in my home this past summer, I recognized that I’d need to upgrade my power tools. I purchased a Ryobi table saw and the Ryobi One Plus Renovator combo to help with cutting flooring, sandpapering walls, installing new trim, and all the other jobs that go with home improvement. Although those tools ran more than $300, I ended up saving over $2000 by doing the flooring job myself, and cut a few man days off the job by upgrading my tool selection.
I considered other brands of cordless tools, but I hadn’t been satisfied with the Black and Decker 12V drill I had owned previously, and most of the other “name” brands were significantly more expensive. I also liked that Ryobi offered a huge selection of portable power tools in the One+ family (over 25), all using the same 18V battery, the fact that replacement batteries were relatively inexpensive ($40 for two), and reviews of Ryobi One Plus tools were generally favorable. My experience with these products over the past 6 months has been excellent; I feel the $200 I spent on the Renovator combo could not have been spent any more wisely.
In the Box
Ryobi offers most of their basic One + power tools in both combo packages and in individual packs at Home Depot stores. There are three combo packs available, including the Renovator Combo being reviewed here.
Starter Kit Plus
2 speed variable speed drill
18V flashlight
5 ½” Circular Saw
Two batteries and charger
$99 (Home Depot price)
Super Combo
2 speed variable speed drill
18V flashlight
5 ½” Circular Saw
Reciprocating Saw
Tuff Sucker Wet/Dry Hand Vacuum
Tool Bag
Two batteries and charger
$159
Renovator
2 speed variable speed drill
18V flashlight
5 ½” Circular Saw
Reciprocating Saw
Tuff Sucker Wet/Dry Hand Vacuum
Jigsaw
Corner Cut Sander
Tool Bag
Two batteries and Charger
$210 (Estimated cost $340 if purchased separately)
I have a few minor quibbles with the Renovator package. I wish Ryobi had included their hammer drill instead of their P201 base model 2 speed drill. The P201 is a good drill, but once in a while most of us will need a hammer drill to put something into concrete. Two batteries is the minimum needed for day long jobs, and along with the one hour charger, work out well if you are only using one or two tools. If you are using several at a time, you’ll soon tire of changing and charging batteries. Fortunately, replacement batteries are inexpensive ($40 for two). Only a few saw blades, sand paper, and screwdriver bits are included, and I would have appreciated a few drill bits.
the Tools…
P201 Drill-Driver
The Ryobi 18V drill is a solid performer, and the tool I use most. I’ve used it to drill hundreds of pilot holes while installing trim, drilled holes in 1/8” steel angle iron for a basket ball goal, installed blinds and shelves, wall mounted a 50” plasma TV, and a hundred things in between. It’s a little heavy, at 5.3 lbs, but nicely balanced. The drill has a two speed gear train, which is adjusted by a large slide switch on top of the drill. The drill trigger also delivers continuous speed adjustment, the highest speed when fully depressed, with less pressure reducing speed, making it easy to start and drive screws slowly, or quickly.
The mode switch above the trigger has two settings, drill and drive mode. There is a 24 position torque adjustment ring allows 24 discrete torque adjustments in drive mode, more than I’ve ever needed.
The drill has a plastic housing which appears to be robust. The base, motor, and handle have a rubbery coating that improves your grip, and protects the housing. Also built into the base are slots for philips and flat screwdriver bits, and a slot for a magnetic bit holder. These are held firmly into place, and unlikely to be lost even in heavy use. There’s also a magnetic tray built into the base, for storage of screws, a small, but very useful features for those who normally hold extra bits in their teeth. Battery life is good, I found a charge lasted at least half a day, when I was drilling holes in trim pieces prior to installation. With the included two batteries and the one hour charger, you’ll likely never run out of juice.
The ½” chuck can be loosened and tightened by hand. I find it does not grip small (1/8” or less), round bits well, and it is best to purchase bits with hexagonal ends.
Tuff Sucker Cordless Vacuum
The 18V battery makes this vacuum heaver than most other “dustbuster” style cordless vacuums. However, the 18V battery also means you’ll run this model much longer between charges. I never have vacuuming jobs that last more than 10 or 15 minutes, but see I no loss in capacity in that time. Other cordless vacuums I’ve used would have started to slow in that time period. The Tuff Sucker will also vacuum up liquids, the weir design of the internals allow it to hold about 3 ounces before the bag will start to get wet. The internal bag is easy to remove and clean, but it is small, and its size, rather than the battery life, set the vacuum’s run time (for me). The Tuff Sucker makes for easy cleanup after any job.
Cordless Work light
The worklight is a standard flashlight with a 3” reflector, fixed focus. It is not an LED light or high intensity light, but useful enough, just the same. The 2 lb 18V battery serves as the base of the flashlight, proving a solid footing when you set the light down. The head of the light can pivot from a downward angle of 30 degrees, to an angle of about a 60 degree upwards. This pivot allows you to point the light appropriately in just about any work area.
P520 Orbital Jigsaw
The P520 Jigsaw is a good basic jigsaw for home users. The 18V battery provided plenty of juice for my cutting of plywood and laminate flooring. It will easily handle most things a homeowner would do with a corded jigsaw, albeit a little more slowly. Blade changes are easy, 5 seconds with no tools needed. There’s a storage compartment for new blades built into the saw’s body. The orbital motion is adjustable, 4 settings, for soft or hard material (a setting I’ve not needed to change). Saw speed is continuously variable, controlled by trigger pressure. The base of the saw can be adjusted to make bevel cuts.
I used this saw to trim edges of laminate flooring to be installed around at least a dozen door frames and other unusually shaped obstacles. Having the saw right next to me during installation saved a lot of time, and the lack of any cords eliminated a few tripping hazards, important for unskilled casual woodworkers like me. The one annoyance was the safety switch; it’s a stretch to engage the safety switch with your thumb while engaging the trigger with your index finger when running this saw.
P510 Reciprocating Saw
I’ve probably used the P510 reciprocating saw least among these tools so far. For me, it’s like a cross between a large 2-handed jigsaw and a hedge trimmer. Its great for making rough cuts quickly, wood or even metal (one blade for each was included), though if you need accurate cuts, it’s usually better to use the circular saw or jigsaw or something else. Blade changes are easy and require no tools.
P500 Laser Circular Saw
The Ryobi 5 ½” P500 circular saw handles straight cuts up to 1 9/16” deep, and handles individual cuts well. Blade changes do require a hex wrench, but that comes with the saw, stored neatly in the handle. The base of the saw tilts and pivots, allowing users to set the cutting depth, and to set bevel angles, and there’s a bracket for the included adjustable rip guide, all very nice features on an entry level cordless circular saw. In addition to the rip guide, this saw also has a laser guide built into the handle.
Circular saws seem to push batteries to the limit, this saw is great for occasional use, but you wouldn’t use it as heavily (for numerous back to back deep cuts) as you might use the drill or saber saw, battery life would suffer, and I’ve seen the battery get pretty warm with heavy use. The saw is well balanced, easy to handle, and has comfortable grips for both hands. Though this saw is not nearly as powerful as its corded cousins, it’s an excellent value for light use.
P400 Corner Cut Sander
This past summer we pulled wallpaper off the walls in one room, and had to patch and sand quite a bit before painting the blank wall. The P400 Corner Cut sander saved us several hours of work of arm tiring work. The base of this sander is a triangular shaped sanding pad which vibrates quickly in tight orbital motion. The sander is single speed. Sanding pads are attached by Velcro to the bottom of the sander. The standard sized pads can be rotated to maximize the pad life. Replacement pads are inexpensive, available in several types (sanding, polishing, scrubbing, etc) and are available in many stores.
Tool Bag
The tool box included is serviceable, but a little disappointing. It’s more than large enough, and made of thick woven canvas. There are a couple of pockets on the outside for storing blades and manuals. The interior is not sectioned, so all you can basically do is throw everything into the tool bag and hope nothing gets damaged during transport. I would have liked to see the interior broken into a few sections, with more pockets for storing blades, bits, sanding paper, etc.
Charger
The battery charger only charges one battery at a time, but charges quickly, in one hour. Ryobi warns that if a battery is hot due to heavy use, it should be allowed to cool 15-30 minutes before charging. After reaching full charge, the charger will maintain a full charge on batteries in the charger.
Other Comments
Each of the One + cordless tools comes with a good manual, though way too much of the manuals is dedicated to obvious safety warnings, typically 5 or 6 pages worth in each, which makes finding any really important safety warnings difficult. Ryobi provides a 2 year warranty for their cordless tools. The Ryobi Renovator Combo is great choice for home users embarking on maintenance or improvement projects, though you’ll need to buy a few bits, blades, and maybe a couple of extra batteries to get the full value of all these tools.
Ryobi Website:
http://www.oneplustools.com/combos/C75
Recommended:
Yes
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