Customer Rating: - love it
Very lightweight & easy to use. Yes the battery only last about 20 minutes but for me that is quite enough and if you charge one battery while using the other, you have 40 minutes of use. It is great for those of us who are smaller and not able to hold the heavy stuff.

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Customer Rating: - A great utilitarian instrument!
A new era of my life was begun this summer when I bought my own grass trimmer/edger and lawn mower. After five years of hiring one lawn service after another, I decided to mow and tidy my own lawn. Mind you, I am a senior citizen on the young end, a woman, and not a lover of machines with sharp edges that I must handle (not the edges, the machine). Just to make sure I could do this, I borrowed my brother's equipment. He showed me how to use them and I buzzed away.

On July 4th, I declared independence from lawn services by buying my own lawn mower and grass trimmer. I was nervous at first, but now I get out there and have the best time.

Here are the reasons that I like this particular trimmer (Black and Decker 18-volt cordless electric 12-inch Hog String Trimmer/Edger):

1. It is electric! That means no cord! When I was using my brother's corded unit, I kept thinking, wow, the person who invents a cordless unit will make a ton of money.

2. Other reviewers expressed dissatisfaction with the cordless machine because it was not strong enough or didn't last long enough or took too long to charge. Here are my findings:

a. Strong enough to do my job--didn't find this complaint true for me
b. I couldn't believe the unit faded out just as I finished. True, a yard any larger would require more charging.
c. The instructions say to keep the unit on the charger all the time. My unit is always ready to go when I am!

3. One of my biggest complaints about lawn services and one which they totally ignored me concerning was stripping the grass blades to just strings. These poor blades never got over the shock nor did they ever grow again. Since the lower part of my yard slopes, rain water washes the top layer of soil down the yard every time, creating a barren look. I could never get the grass to build up or soil to stay put. There are no stripped blades now!! The same is true wherever they trimmed: along brick edgers, around night lamp, and the area around my gigantic oak tree. Grass now grows right up to the roots which project from the trunk.

When I want to edge, I flip that shield over and edge away. Of course, one should always wear protective goggles.

Another great aspect of this trimmer is its spools of string. When I used my brother's, I had to restring the unit several times because the string became loose. My unit has already-strung spools to go with it. I can't believe how wonderfully this works! And no more bad words!

This trimmer is incredible and works only as well as the person in control! Plus, best bonus--my yard looks great!

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Customer Rating: - Can't do the job
I bought this hoping to replace an old corded trimmer, but the Grass Hog just did not have the juice to do the job. The batteries take 9 hours to charge! I have never heard of a rechargeable battery taking 9 hours, but that is what the instructions say, and the instructions were accurate. The 2 batteries combined could not trim our .2 acre yard. You will be lucky to run the trimmer for 10 minutes per battery, then you get to wait for another 9 hours to have a charged battey. I returned mine and will buy a new corded trimmer so I can do the entire yard in one day.

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Customer Rating: - Trimmer
Does a good job as a trimmer and edger. Light weight makes it easy to handle. Battery doesn't last as long as I would like, however, with the two batteries supplied I am able to finish my yard.