The yearly ritual around our house for the backyard garden is to trim and weed out the overgrowth that magically appears every springtime. We have had gardeners do the job, but this was not looking looking too good since it was costing quite a bit when we totalled the yearly maintainance fees. I wanted a weeder/trimmer that was non-gasoline powered and cordless too. I saw the B&D Grass Hog and bought one, in hopes that this would save us some money. The set-up of the unit is easy. A few screws, charge up the battery, (it will take overnight) and you are good to go. The first thing that you will notice is that it is pretty heavy for a trimmer/weed whacker. This is due to the heavy lead-acid battery that is perched at the top of the unit. The second thing that is noticed is it's power. I was able to whack and trim the heaviest grasses and weeds. The big problem is the extremely short usage time per charge. I was only able to use the Grass Hog continuously for only about 12 to 15 minutes before it ran down and stopped working. This is not acceptable. In fact, it is a down right failure for usefulness as far as a garden tool. I cannot perceive why Black and Decker would even market and sell this item because the effective run time is so low. I am returning this unit. In the meanwhile, I have discovered that other cordless trimmers last up to 40 minutes for about the same price as the Black and Decker. If this was a final exam for the cordless Grass Hog, it would receive a grade of D.