DeWalt corded drill
This drill fills exactly the requirement I needed--one that works when I need it to work. It is powerful and reasonably compact and, though it needs to be connected to an electrical outlet, there are no batteries to fail or need to be charged when the drill is needed. An equivalent battery-powered drill would be much more expensive and, in my experience, much less reliable (NiMh or Li-ion batteries might solve some of the problems with the battery-powered ones).