Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased the 18 gauge brad nailer the other day at the home depot. I had done exhaustive research as to which way to go for hoseless nailing. Let me start that I have been very speculative of cordless nialers. Having the luxury of ample (compressor) pressure just makes you feel secure on the site. That being said, there have been so many times that the thought of dragging out all the equipment just to drive a few nails was tiresome. That led me to this purchase. I researched tirelessly. I looked at Senco...I passed. There were more negative reviews which ultimately swayed me from Senco. I then turned to DeWalt. Nothing but rave reviews! Good power, consistent nailing, nothing but praise. I also considered Paslode. I have never been overly impressed with their engineering. The battery, plus gas cartridge just left me cold. Plus, the smell and maintenance issues just seemed more than I wanted to tangle with. I do know there are many Paslode evangelists, but for many reasons, I just couldn't join in. I did my research on the Ryobi and there didn't seem to be too many bad reviews. In fact, there were a lot of good reviews from what I think to be reliable sources. Having done a good deal of back and forth on line, I took a trip to Home Depot to see these tools in the flesh. I approached the wall and immediately went to the Ryobi. My initial impression was that the tool was a good size. I then looked over at the 16gauge angled nailer from DeWalt. I studied it, and my initial response was "That is a BIG gun!". After going back and forth (In my hands) between the Ryobi and the Dewalt...I came to the conclusion that the DeWalt was just too big. Not that I am squeezing my guns into small corners all the time, but I couldn't get my head around the size...even with the glowing reviews. So, Ryobi went into the cart. I am a Makita guy and buying into another battery system takes a lot of convincing for me. If Makita made these products, I would take a good hard look at them! Alas, they (Makita cordless guns) are not available as of yet. At least not in the U.S.. I pushed my cart away thinking " I cannot believe I am buying Ryobi!". Ryobi to me has been (in my mind) on par with Black and Decker. A cheap tool at a cheap price. I have never considered them to be a professional tool. It took a lot of mental contorting to get me to the register. But again, having read the reviews, I thought "maybe, just maybe, this thing is the real deal." I Brought it home, charged the largest battery they sell, and fired a couple brads. My eyes widened a bit. "It couldn't be." It drove the nails perfectly. I then started slamming nails into some pine, one after the next, the nails drove in as if I were connected to a hose. Albeit, a "tethered" gun is faster...but this gun isn't far behind. Led lights, bump fire, cordless...Yeah! Based on that experience, I went back and purhcased the 16gauge finish nailer. I need both nail sizes. I looked at the other Ryobi tools and my opinion about them is the same. I just don't trust them for some reason. I just think Makita for instance makes a better tool. That's not marketing, that's me using and abusing Makita tools for over eight years. Just my opinion. So, I have yet to use and abuse these nailers...but from what I have seen on their maiden voyage, "Right on!" I will be so darn happy if these guns do what they advertise! In conclusion, I will return here eventually with good or bad news. I hope (for everyone buying this product) it's the aforementioned. Update 10-11-14_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I am happily impressed! This is a good tool. I've installed door casings, molding, cabinetry work and everything is going very well. There have been certain cases where the nail is a little proud (head sticking out a bit) but that is more user error. You have to get used to the way this gun fires. It ramps up and fires. It's a short amount of time but if you don't have the right amount of pressure on the gun, or back it off too quickly, you might have to return and set the nail. Overall this gun has made projects that would have been more labor intensive (just by getting out the compressor) soooooooooooooo much easier. I'll go on record that a corded gun is going to have more power, but man, for the convenience, I can live with a little nail setting here and there. It's a good tool that will change the way you work...for the better! It has for me.