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Buying guides and tools

Shopping for a battery, charger or tool? These guides use each manufacturer's own pages and say what we couldn't verify.

• Battery compatibility checker

  Pick a brand and tool to see which battery platforms and models fit.

• Charger light-code decoder

  Pick your charger and its lights to get the manual's meaning and next step.

• Repair or replace calculator

  Enter your own costs and the tool's age to see whether to fix it or buy new.

• Drill and impact driver combo kits compared

  DeWalt, Craftsman, Milwaukee and Makita kits, from the manufacturers' own pages.

• DeWalt vs Milwaukee impact drivers

  DCF845, DCF860, DCF870 and Milwaukee 2953-20, torque shown as each brand labels it.

• Which DeWalt charger do you need?

  DCB1104, DCB1112, DCB1404 and DCB118: which packs each one charges.

• Genuine vs third-party Milwaukee M18 batteries

  What Milwaukee says and what to check on a third-party pack.

• Aftermarket batteries for DeWalt 20V MAX

  How to read 8Ah and 12Ah capacity claims.

• Replacement batteries for Ryobi 18V ONE+

  Genuine vs aftermarket 8Ah packs.

• Replacement batteries for Ryobi 40V

  Genuine vs aftermarket 7.5Ah listings.

• Off-brand tools on DeWalt and Milwaukee batteries

  What to check before you order.

• Cheap 20V drill sets: what to check

  AVID POWER, DEKOPRO, COMOWARE and PULITUO'S against named brands.

• Tool storage for a cordless kit

  TSTAK, Craftsman, Keter and parts cabinets, with manufacturer dimensions.

• Wet/dry shop vacs for a garage

  What peak HP does and doesn't tell you.

• DeWalt vs Milwaukee impact wrenches

  Why the torque labels differ, and what each maker prints.

• Cordless angle grinders compared

  DeWalt and Milwaukee vs the 19,500 RPM mini grinders.

• Which cordless saw first?

  Circular, jig or reciprocating, from the manufacturers' own pages.

• Cordless leaf blowers: what the specs say

  CFM and MPH vs the 990,000 RPM claims.