Agree about many of the brands being made in the same factory -- that was true even before production moved to China. My dad's spring company would sell parts used in about four brands produced in the same line (and that included Craftsman too). So I think they are all about the same in terms of production quality. Features and warranty set the brands apart.
I bought Ryobi years ago when I stumbled on a Black Friday sale at Home Depot, and have stuck with it since, replacing batteries every 4-5 years. Never had a single problem with the drills themselves. Two years ago, I found it was less expensive to buy a whole new kit than to simply buy new batteries, so now I have two 18V drills, an 18V impact driver, and an 18V jig saw that all share batteries. All have been great.
The latest kit came with LiIon (lithium-ion) batteries, and they are so much better than the older NiMH batteries. They are smaller and lighter, and hold a charge longer.
If there is a downside to the LiIon batteries, it's that they go strong and then quit suddenly when they need a charge. Older batteries would gradually slow down and you could tell when it was time to plug them in. I was hanging off the side of a 35' bank building stairs for my dock recently, and found it annoying when the LiIon batteries would quit minutes after I just shimmied down the rope.... I got in the habit of charging and rotating more frequently, before they died, just so I wasn't making extra trips. For that project, I was driving thousands of 3" and 4" timber screws, and the impact driver was a lifesaver.
