re: What brand of power tools do you roll with?

You got that right! I worked at Sears (Hardware) while in school and I saw first hand what was good and what was crap and they had both.
I could write a short story on customers and their returned tools.

Makita and Milwaukee are all I use.

I always started with China Freight until it broke. That told me that I used It enough to warrant an upgrade. That or it really was just a shite machine. Their planer scared me every time I used it

Ryobi

Have had for years now:

Circular saw
Jigsaw
Weed-eater/edger
Drill
Blower
Hedge clipper
Sander

All work perfect and haven’t missed a beat. I use them all the time.

Dewalt is garbage now. Used to be the best, but the baws touring dewalt are all about image.

Best guts belong to Makita, they invented the brushless motor.

Second best is Milwaukee. Solid industrial tool.

The innards of each tool will tell you everything.

(As a note Dewalt markets a 20v tool. They are all 20 at ignition and all 18v when running)

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Rental or cheap HF specials is the way to go unless you a legit full time contractor

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Or if you actually like making things with your hands and do it often. HF tools can do the job but they are harder to get quality results with which means a lot of the people that use them are the very people who could benefit from using a better quality tool.

Replaced everything last year with rigid brushless.
So far so good

You should try to get your hands on a Makita and use it. The difference between Makita and Porter Cable/B&D is life-changing. You will look for things to work on.

The impact driver is balls to the wall. No more stripping screws out. It just slams them in. You need torx or square slot screws to really take full advantage though.

I dropped mine from the rafters onto the concrete floor. Thought for sure it was broken but it wasn’t affected at all, other than a scuff mark on the battery.

I have Dewalt. Milwaukee and Ryobi. I gave away my Makitas. They had the worst batteries.

I’ve got a variety. Couldn’t even tell you what my mitre saw and table saw are. My dad owned both of them and brought them for a big project he was helping me with. Then he didn’t feel like taking them 4 hours home and told me to keep them. He would buy another when he needed it again. He just didn’t use them often enough and I still don’t think he’s replaced the table saw. That was 10 years ago.

Cordless I’ve gone with Porter Cable. Bought the drill driver set a few years ago and have added some others since then. Power sanders I bought at harbor freight. Same with my sawzall. Until they die I’ll just keep using them.