Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*** by the way, there's a reviewer who talks about forgetting to remove the mulcher in the beginning and it affecting battery life; that totally happened to me. Remove the mulcher from inside the mower before use and it'll increase battery life! Also, my box and packaging looked exactly as jacked as they either reviewers who mentioned poor packaging; tighten your bolts like the one reviewer suggested (just in case)*** In every bad review, they all talk about the batteries and the price; I get it... it's expensive and the 2 5AH batteries certainly don't cut it. Let's break it apart: 1. It's expensive. Do you know of any single deWalt item that isn't priced higher than 70% of its counterparts? I feel this case is closed. No one buys deWalt because it's cheaply priced 2. It should have come with flex volt or higher AH batteries. Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where corporations served us as their master and lost money on every deal? Think about it; who is going to pay the overpriced development team who created this new product? And wouldn't it be a smart business model to give a set of batteries that, while they can serve a small city sized lawn, would have to be upgraded for a 'better experience'? Yes, yes it would be a good business model since business models are meant to develop and profit said business That being said, here's my experience. I bought a house last September, the grass was insane (.33 acre and it's weird, like 'hill-y' weird). I bought the Kobalt blue system (unknowing that deWalt had yard tools). It literally went two passes and died. I got angry, yelled at Lowes, broke my finger while taking apart, and took it back. The next day I bought a Troy Bilt ride on, decided I was just going to go all out. Used it 4 times last year and twice this new season before it simply stopped going forward and backward. I have a warranty, right? Sure, except I don't have a truck and they wanted $120+ to pick up and bring it back (each way). So, I took it in to get fixed and am selling it when I get it back. Meanwhile, I went out of the country for work and hired someone to come do my lawn in the interim... he never showed. So I came home to grass that was 2 feet high; when I say grass, I mean weeds and garbage. I have all deWalt stuff. I have the 2 small 2AH batteries that come with drills, and 3 5AH batteries (one came with the blower/wacker set and 2 I just bought on Amazon). I figured, get the 20V deWalt mower because then I'll have 5 5AH batteries and the two smaller ones; that should be plenty. It wasn't; not for the jungle that had grown. Some issues: 1. The mower draws off both batteries at the same time; meaning, you can't just put one 5AH battery in to 'finish off' or anything. It also means that if one battery is super charged and one is dead, it's still not going to run. I get it, they developed it at 20V to utilize batteries in our garage but it's still running on 40V. Oh well 2. The batteries get crazy hot. What does that mean? It means you aren't charging the just used set while using the spare set and then being able to go back and grab the previously used set because they likely haven't even started charging yet (unless you have the fan cooled quick chargers; then MAYBE) 3. It eats up those 5AH batteries quick... like, really quick. Because of #1 above, I could only go two sets (because I have 5 total) and it took me 4 separate occasions to finish cutting the lawn But... I like it. I think with a normal cut job weekly it will perform just fine (even if needing two separate time periods). I like how it folds up and stands vertical. It cuts pretty good (I finally hacked through the jungle and it only stuttered like once or twice; a gas mower would have certainly done the same). Know what else? I went ahead and bought the 2 pack 6AH flex volt batteries with a fast charger and they seriously kicked butt on the last pass finishing up the yard. I venture to say the 2 6AH flex volt batteries are the equivalent (in this mower) of the 4 5AH batteries (which aren't flex volt). Honestly? I think I could even sell the 2 5AH hour batteries that came with the mower and be set; which, I will know more after the next time I cut the grass to see how much it requires. So... $600-650 for a deWalt mower, 2 5AH batteries (come with it), and 2 6AH flex volt batteries (with a fast charger if you find a good deal like I did); that'll sort out your normal 1/3 to 1/2 acre regular length grass (imo). If you have a smaller yard, sell the 5AH hour batteries for a few bucks off and get the 6AH flex volt (the 9s would surely kick butt even more). Is that too expensive? then maybe you need to go shop Black and Decker. Even the Ryobi set I had before was $400 and that was only 2 batteries. The Kobalt obviously stunk. This is a deWalt mower. I recommend it (I didn't give it 5 stars because I figured all the issues were worth a star off). If you're not willing to adjust to your needs based on bigger/more batteries, maybe deWalt isn't the right brand for you... because they make good stuff and charge a premium for it.