Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As I unpacked my new mower, the first thing I noticed was it's size. Compared to my old electric mower which has the same sized cut, it's gigantic. Fully 3 inches wider and at a hefty 62 pounds, but I figured I would not be picking it up very often, after all, just pushing it. I charged up the battery and installed it, thereby noticing the first design flaw. The battery compartment not only has a spring loaded plastic cover on it, necessitating a two-handed operation to insert the battery, but the battery terminals are on the top of the compartment rather than the bottom, causing it to be more difficult to slide it in and engage them. They also snap in. More on that in a minute. As I took off to mow, I ran across the second design flaw. The starter button is a good foot away from the bar you have to depress to make it go, which means starting it up is also a two-handed operation. My old mower only requires one hand to get it going, as the starter button is up near the bar you need to depress. Not that big a deal so far. As I approached the end of the first run, and came up upon a block wall, I discovered that due to the twin blades, with one behind the other, this mower does not cut as close to the wall as it should. Okay, the nits are mounting up, but the thing plowed right through the thickest parts of the yard like nothing, so that was very nice. Nor did I notice the uncut portion between the blades that others have reported. It cut nicely, thoroughly, and quickly. My yard had been mowed only last week, so it was not exactly overgrown, but here in SoCal the rains we've had have been causing vegetation to go wild, so I've been trying to mow weekly to avoid the "forest" look. It was now that I noticed that the heavy weight of the mower made its presence known when I tried to turn it around or turn a corner. Much more difficult than it should be, I thought. But I went mowing merrily along until I just just past the 20-minute mark, when the mower suddenly stopped! The battery had run out of juice! Are you KIDDING ME? So in order to mow my yard.....well, let's face it, I really couldn't mow my yard with that kind of battery performance. Not even if it charged in an hour. It was when I went to remove the battery that I ran across yet another design flaw. The battery is held into the battery compartment with a stiff retainer, so it pretty much takes two hands to remove the battery from the mower. The only problem is, with the spring loaded plastic battery cover to contend with also, I found myself a hand short. Terrible design. My old mower, which uses a 24-volt lead acid battery is designed so that you just walk up to the mower, reach down and pull the battery out by the handle. After charging, you just pick it up by the handle again, and drop it right back in Easy Peasy. In fact, this mower made me fall in love with my old mower SO much that I packed it up, sent it back, and spent $77 for a second battery for my old one. I'm good to go now. But my advice is, in case you have not picked up on it, is don't waste your money on this thing.