The signs are everywhere: the framed diploma leaning against the den wall since 1987, when you earned it. The boxed mail-order side table that wasn’t “quick and easy to assemble!” after all. The books piled on the floor because you can’t face the thought of putting up shelves. If visions of blisters and lost afternoons bullying screws into walls or boards with a screwdriver are keeping you from jobs like these, the time has come to invest in a cordless drill. It’s unbelievably faster than the old toolbox standby, goes where the job takes you without extension-cord tangle, and is a snap to use.

Choose the right cordless for your needs. The higher the voltage, the faster and harder it can work, the longer the battery charge lasts — and the heavier the drill. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, go for more voltage so you won’t be forever running out of juice on big jobs. If sinking screws into drywall is your limit, don’t strain your arm with a 6- or 10-pounder. Check for balance and for how comfortable the drill feels in your hand. “You don’t wear the wrong-size shoes, and it’s the same with a drill,” says Pat Simpson, host of HGTV’s Fix It Up and Before & After. Here are the winners from two dozen road-tested models.