I purchased this for keeping the grass around my house and fence trimmed and am very satisfied. Granted, the batteries don't hold up to lots of heavy trimming, but for a normal trim (which for me is grass and some weeds around the entire house plus both sides of about 320ft of fencing) the 2 batteries are just enough when fully charged. It can definitely handle much thicker weeds and such, but don't expect the batteries to last too long under those circumstances. So I think the recommendation really comes down to your use. If you're just using it to keep the grass and small weeds around the house neatly trimmed, you'll be very satisfied. If you're hacking through the jungle, you'll definitely want to look at more traditional solutions.

This is a powerful effective weed wacker, that my wife loves. I use a heavier gasoline powered unit that she can not heft. The only problem is operating time - probably between 20 minutes to 30 minutes per battery. I bought the fast charger, which seems to take a good hour or more to charge. But two charged batteries last as long as my wife lasts at weed wacking, so on the whole it is a fine unit. But this is based on perhaps 10 uses, over a 2 week period, still on the first roll of cutting line.
Durability and reliability are presently unknown quantities.

I have owned this trimmer for about 2 months and here is the scoop....I will never again use a gas or electric corded unit.....This trimmer is lightweight....Instant start.....quiet......and with the 2 batteries... you have enough juice to last about 40 minutes which should do the job for most yards...The edger is also easy to change over and the only regret I have is not buring this trimmer sooner......Perfect!!!!

This model was highly rated by Consumers Group, and I can see why. Overall it works great, it's easy to handle, easy to assemble, and the battery packs seem to last as expected. Includes a charger with 2 battery packs so you always have a "hot spare". Amazon was selling this as bundle with a highly rated B&D cordless mower, so I bought the package deal.

The manual is decent. Let's face it - we're all interested in the assembly section so we can get busy. But they have some good points in the other sections of the manual.

I would recommend it for home use. It's definitely not industrial-grade for pro landscapers, but it does work well for home use.

This is an excellent product! It is easy to handle and does a beautiful job. Highly recommended!