Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had this mower since the previous Spring, and every time I'm out mowing, I'm thinking about the review that I planned to write here about it. So needless to say, I've thought a lot about this. Here are 6 reasons to get this lawnmower: 1. It's cheap, about half the price that an equivalent gas mower would set you back. It's probably also a little bit cheaper to keep running, too. 2. It's light. A lot of gas mowers are self-propelled because they're so heavy to push around, but at 36 pounds, this mower doesn't need to be self-propelled. You can move it back and forth with relative ease, much like a heavy vacuum cleaner. 3. It's easy to start. No yanking the cord to get it going; just turn it on and start. Of course, you can get self-starting gas mowers these days as well, but they will set you back even more money. 4. It's quiet. Well, okay, it's not THAT quiet. But it's quieter than most. 5. It doesn't smell. The lawn doesn't smell like gas fumes after you're all done. 6. It's better for the environment. Gas lawnmower engines expel 10 times the amount of pollution per gallon of gas than your automobile does. Sounds great so far, right? Well, before you click that "Add to Shopping Cart" button, let me give you two thoughts that might have you think otherwise: 1. The cord. Yep, there's no battery here, so you're attached to your house's electricity the entire time. In practice, I haven't found this too difficult to deal with; by starting near the outlet and snaking back and forth away from it, it's easy to manage. But, when I have to mow around my trees, it gets to be a bit of a chore. If I had a lot of tricky landscaping, or a particularly large yard, this would be enough to kill the deal. (You can get electrical mowers with batteries, but they tend to be even more expensive than the gas mowers, and if you're choosing electric for environmental reasons, the lead in that battery is going to steer you even further away from that option.) 2. The optional mulching bag is small. If I'm collecting my grass clippings, I'll often need to empty the bag 8-10 times during a typical run. It gets to be pretty annoying. As a result, I usually just let the clippings return to the lawn, which is better for the lawn anyway, even if it doesn't look as pretty. And there you have it. Six reasons to buy it, and two not to. You'll have to make your own decision. As for myself, I've been very happy with my purchase thus far, and will probably make my next mower a Black and Decker electric model as well.