Black&Decker 12V Cordless String Trimmer

We bought this trimmer about a year ago, it works just fine and we have had no complaints with it.  It easily switches from horizontal to vertical cutting and back.  We happened to need it one day when the battery had not been charged, so we used the compatible battery from a friend's power drill that was here-  wow!  A little more power and those stray blades of grass just fly off, did actually make the task go a lot faster.  We don't have a ton of edging to do, so it was more a novelty for us than anything we would actually consider buying a new battery for. 

I have this trimmer - but a previous model... a "Grass Hog" cordless trimmer - has a different battery shape, but essentially the same thing. The newer model's battery also fits their other tools as well - a very good improvement indeed!

I have been using mine for a few years now and have never had a problem with it! Have reloaded the string once or twice, but that's it! I use it, hose it off, and recharge the battery. It just does not break! I am good to my tools, but any well used tool gets banged around a bit... seems to take it just fine. Mine has an auto-feed string, no bumping.

Has plenty of power. I have a medium sized yard and seem to have never come close to running out of charge with it. It makes some noise (due to the string - unavoidable), but much quieter than a gas powered unit.

Always wear safety glasses when using a trimmer - stuff bounces off mine all the time!!!

Highly recommend this tool. ...now, if I can only rig up a solar charger for it (will add to post if I pull that off!)

I received this trimmer (I consider it a weed whacker) as a gift a few years ago - can't beat that value! It performs just as well as a gas trimmer, but without the emissions fumes, noise, and inconvenience of having to buy gasoline for it.

The only downside is the battery life. It lasts somewhere on the order of a half hour after being fully charged. Depending on what you're using it for (i.e. trimming the edge of your lawn), this might be plenty of battery life. If you're using it to cut down large areas of weeds and bermuda grass (like I often do), it might not be sufficient. However, once I spent a half hour using the trimmer until the battery died, plugged it in for 2-3 hours, and then resumed whacking weeds for another 15-20 minutes, which was enough to get the job done.

So as long as you're looking for a trimmer and don't require it to last for much longer than a half hour at a time, the Black&Decker is a good choice. It's not too loud (definitely quieter than a gas trimmer), has much lower emissions, no fumes, and doesn't have the inconvenience of refueling it with gas. And it performs just as well as a gas trimmer.