It's kind of a Ford or Chevy type of question because there are those that swear by both of them. Panasonic makes the batteries for both manufacturers and several others. I've used both of them and I work with people that have full sets of each and a couple of Milwaukee guys, too, so you can't go wrong either way.

You definitely want to get a kit so you only have to buy one charger and two batteries, though it's always nice to have extra, especially if you travel from job site to job site. That way you can keep a charger at home or in the shop and one in your tool kit. The extended run batteries are a lot better (and expensive) than the compacts but obviously run a lot longer and need to be charged a lot less frequently. Both will do the heavy stuff, but the compacts will only do it for a short time before needing to be recharged. If you're going to use them hard, then you really want the extended run batteries because you'll kill the smaller ones.

Do some shopping because it's a very competitive field and a lot of the big online retailers have sales. They usually offer slightly different kit numbers, which contain very slightly different accessories to make it difficult to accurately compare prices, but as long as the tool numbers are the same and they use the same batteries, you should be able to compare. It also makes it impossible to take an online price to Home Depot or Lowe's and have them give you a 10% price match discount because the model numbers will be different. Amazon, CPO Tools http://www.cpooutlets.com Tool Barn http://www.toolbarn.com and Tyler Tools http://www.tylertools.com are some of the big online retailers.

Give a thought to reconditioned tools, too. I will never buy another new power tool again as you can usually get a reconditioned one for about half the price. I've bought dozens for myself and the shops I've run over the years and have never had a bad experience. The batteries are always new and everything comes with the manufacturer's original warranty. Reconditioned Sales http://www.reconditionedsales.com carries mostly Hitachi and Makita, while CPO, Tool Barn, Tyler, and Amazon sell all makes. A little internet search and you'll find others, I'm sure. I can't say enough about reconditioned tools because the amount of money you save will allow you to buy another tool or extended run battery or two, depending on the kit you're looking at. I very rarely see any sign of use on anything I've bought reconditioned, including my MacBook Pro, so if you're worried about the appearance, don't. Again, do some online shopping to find the best deal and look for free shipping, whether you're buying new or reconditioned.

Again, either Makita or DeWalt will do the job for you, no matter what anyone says. There will always be those that had a bad experience with one or the other and they're probably pretty close, anyway. Black & Decker/DeWalt owns Porter-Cable and Delta and Stanley now owns Black & Decker, so it's all kind of coming together. Just shop around because there can be huge differences in price between a home center and some of the big online stores. I always check Amazon to see what the baseline price is because I can usually find tools cheaper somewhere else.