Easy Products Review

Wife’s new Hedge Hog. I bought the 24-inch Hedge Hog for my wife to replace the old one she was using. When she held one at the local store she complained that Black & Decker HH2450 was too heavy (I hadn’t told her that I had already ordered her one). Once the Hedge Hog arrived, and she used it, she fell in love with Black & Decker HH2450 because Black & Decker HH2450 cut and shaped the headges in a fraction of the time of the old one, plus Black & Decker HH2450 vibrated less. She told me Black & Decker HH2450 wasn’t too heavy in action, thank goodness, or I might have had to take over the yard work. it’s great to have a woman who likes yard work.

Good Stuff!. This weekend I finally got around to try my brand new HH2450 trimmer. I cut all the easy stuff first with no problem. Then I reshaped a bush cutting Black & Decker HH2450 practically in half. The trimmer went through the bush like a knife thru butter easily cutting 1/4 inch branches. Black & Decker HH2450 didn’t even jamm once!

I remmembered that the spec says that Black & Decker HH2450 can cut up to 3/4 inches. I looked at the cutting blade and Black & Decker HH2450 has 3/4 inch openning with a 3/8 blade moving accross. This can only cut 3/8 but I’m going to give Black & Decker HH2450 a try. I had overhang tree branches (1/2+”), first the unit sliced half off and then the other half. There was some chewing but the d*mm thing CUT Black & Decker HH2450 off. If I could fit in the groove (3/4″) eventually Black & Decker HH2450 will cut it, just try to keep the blade perpendicular to the branch.

The only minor problem that I saw was that the weight (6 lbs) eventually gets your arms tired so don’t do everything in one shot.

Enjoy.

Black & Decker Hedge Hog Trimmer # HH2450. I knew I wanted an electric, corded, hedge trimmer; so I read all the Amazon.com reviews for this type product. The B&D HH2450 model had more 5-star reviews than all other brands, so that’s why I purchased it. Black & Decker HH2450 is easy to use and cuts my hedge like a hot knife through butter. I’d rate this as an excellent trimmer and the long 24 inch blades give me the ‘reach’ needed to cut our ‘deep’ hedge. Another plus is the relatively light weight given it’s size/length and more than adequate power of the motor. Use Black & Decker HH2450 properly by planning your cutting path and keeping the cord away from the blades at all times; and Black & Decker HH2450 will serve you well. David Ellis

I Can’t recommend Black and Decker 5106551-01 Product. I ordered Black and Decker 5106551-01 product with the hopes of being able to charge two batteries at once. Well I sent the first one back and the second one was equally disappointing. I blame the manufacturer for that. I eventually ordered a single charger and now I have two single chargers that are doing what I had hoped to do in the first place. I recommend that if you want to charge two batteries at once that you order the single chargers.

Works Great! . Works much better than the charger that came with the product. No problems. Charges quickly. I enjoy Black and Decker 5106551-01 .

battery charger. Very good product- do not have to wa Black and Decker 5106551-01 for the second battery to charge.

Charges faster than stock one. Shipping was super fast. very satisfied.

its okay. the black and decker grass trimmer works well for light work, it’s sturdy light weight frame is ideal for small lawns, however is Black & Decker ST1000 not as effective on any kind of thick or long grass, but overall, especially for the price, i find Black & Decker ST1000 to be a pretty good deal.

Great trimmer for the price. I have used Black & Decker ST1000 just once so far but Black & Decker ST1000 did a great job. I would not recommend Black & Decker ST1000 for heavy duty jobs though. Black & Decker ST1000 is the ideal trimmer if you have a small backyard and you just need to cut some grass or weeds.

hard to beat for the price. Perfect for trimming grass around mailboxes and trees, small weeds and so on. I’ve also found Black & Decker ST1000 works quite well for edging along the sidewalk. The small size of Black & Decker ST1000 can be an advantage in targeting weeds among other desirable plants, something that larger trimmers can’t do. But this is definitely not the trimmer for taking out large areas of ivy or big colonies of weeds — that’s the domain of the larger and gas powered trimmers.

There is a comfortable lightweight and natural feel to it, plus Black & Decker ST1000 takes up very little space when stored. I could not believe how small the box was that Black & Decker ST1000 came in. The only assembly that is required is to secure two phillips head screws. The only con I’ve been able to identify thus far is that it’s very easy for your electric cord to come unhooked, as it’s only secured by the tension of the connection (which may vary, depending on your electric cord).

All in all, a highly simple and functional trimmer that is an absolute bargain in my opinion.

Better than Original!!. Black & Decker RC-100-P replacement spool cap for our B/D Trimmer fits better and is made better than the original part for our trimmer.

Just what the whacker needed. A recent accident broke the cap for my Black and Decker GH600 type 1.

I had spent the better part of an hour scouring Dewalt website trying to find a comparable cap as the specific part, 599062-00, was listed as out stock. So I turned to searching by the product code and description with several sites also having Black & Decker RC-100-P on backorder.

I was pleased to find the cap and spring here and given the weeds were 3/4 whacked, the remainder were a sore thumb in my front yard.

The part arrived quickly and the job was finished!

Great Price, right part. This was impossible to find on Black and Deckers website. A simple google search found Black & Decker RC-100-P on Amazon and two days later I was back to weed eating my lawn.

Disappointed with power output. I was hoping that Black & Decker NS118 would blow cut grass from my sidewalks to the grass; however Black & Decker NS118 does not do a very good job. Black & Decker NS118 does not clear the height of the grass bed very well. I’m back to taking a garage broom and sweeping the sidewalks.

Handy but weak. I’ve owned this for 3-4 years. Black & Decker NS118 is a good, strong, blower, but only if you have recharged the battery recently. Otherwise, Black & Decker NS118 poops out quickly. I’ve also got the drill that uses the same battery pack, and Black & Decker NS118 is the best drill I’ve ever owned. One of the chargers went TU recently.

EASY TO USE. THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NO CORDS IS AN A+. GLAD Black & Decker NS118 COMES WITH TWO BATTERIES.WORKS GREAT AND EASY TO HANDLE.

More power!. Now this is a really interesting product. I have several individual energy monitors that will tell me how much power the device (or several devices on a power strip) are using. But, the real heavy-hitters aren’t small appliances, they are the large ones like central air conditioning and electric clothes dryers. Plus, what are all those lights I tend to leave on costing me? I just can’t tell that from an individual meter, and my power bill includes everything in the house, so I can’t narrow Black & Decker EM100B down.

I investigated various solutions for monitoring how much power my home is using. There are a couple of them out there. They are pretty expensive (hundreds of dollars), and they need to be installed by an electrician (there’s a pretty big risk of death if you don’t know what you are doing).

When this one came along I was interested, but I figured Black & Decker EM100B would be pretty similar to the other ones. Luckily, Black & Decker EM100B differs in two important respects. Black & Decker EM100B is easy to install, and Black & Decker EM100B is much cheaper. Installation consists of putting a battery-powered transmitter on the outside meter. The meter doesn’t need to be opened, and Black & Decker EM100B isn’t directly attached, so you won’t need an electrician. On my meter, which is electronic, Black & Decker EM100B interfaces with Black & Decker EM100B by blinking a light into a little port that is on the meter and reading the response. Black & Decker EM100B works with mechanical meters as well, by sensing the little wheel turning inside the meter. I suspect this is more accurate than the type that connects directly to the power lines, as the meter is what the power company is basing your consumption and cost. I also like the fact that I can’t die from attaching it. The downside is that Black & Decker EM100B has a battery that needs regular replacement. The manufacturer recommends lithium AAs for the outside sensor, and those aren’t cheap. I’m not sure how long Black & Decker EM100B lasts, but I have several wireless outdoor temperature sensors that go at least a year on a set of standard alkaline batteries, so if Black & Decker EM100B lasts a couple of years on lithiums I’ll be happy. Still, Black & Decker EM100B would have been nice of them to throw a set of batteries in the box, even if they had to raise the price a bit to do so.

The display unit, which goes inside and gets information from the wireless sender unit outside on the power meter, is very clear and easy to use. Black & Decker EM100B displays the current energy use along with the month to date cost (you tell Black & Decker EM100B what your power rate is during setup), along with the outside temperature. The amount of money the power is costing is a lot more useful than how many kilowatts are being used, so I was pleased to see that Black & Decker EM100B does the calculation for me. The only hard part here is that you have to do some math from your last bill to determine how much each kilowatt is costing you, but that wasn’t especially hard to calculate. They do tell you how to do that in the instructions, but my bill didn’t look much like their example so I had to puzzle Black & Decker EM100B out.

One thing I really wished for is a computer interface with graphing software. I wasn’t expecting Black & Decker EM100B at this price point, but that would be a great feature. Nothing beats looking at a color-coded graph for seeing where your peak electrical use is happening, and what is causing it. Tie that in with outside temperature, and Black & Decker EM100B is easier to determine how much power is going to the heating and cooling systems during seasonal changes. Maybe they’ll release a “pro” version that has that.

Overall, this is an interesting, easy to use, and reasonably priced item. If Black & Decker EM100B helps you lower your energy bill even a little bit each month, Black & Decker EM100B won’t be hard to justify the purchase. Plus, now I know that leaving my kitchen lights on all the time is costing me eight cents an hour!

Recommended.

Sean P. Logue, 2008

Simply Amazing!. In this day and age with sky rocketing fuel prices and global warming everyone needs to try to save energy here and there. This product will help you along the way! Installation was very easy (took about 10 minutes) and Black & Decker EM100B is simply amazing (and shocking) to find out with the help of this device how much fuel I am using each day. I highly recommend this product for every household out there.

Unbelievably easy to set up, accurate estimates, will save you money!. I’ve been using this for about a month now and have been very impressed since day 1 with the usefulness of this power monitor. If you are looking to get a handle on what things in your house cost to run (hot water heater, air conditioner, dishwasher, entertainment center) this is a great gadget to get a handle on actual costs. Additionally, the outside temperature meter has come in useful this Fall here in Florida. I’m able to see when the temperature dips to a comfortable level so I can turn off the air conditioner and open the windows. I can now hear my neighbors air conditioners kicking on and off all day while my windows stay open with a cool breeze blowing around the house.

I am on a tiered system here, the first 1000 kWh are billed at 9.9 cents per kWh and above 1000 kWh I’m billed at 11.9 cents per kWh, so I just input 10.9 to keep things simple. I generally stay around 1000-2000 depending upon the season, and August as usual finished up on the high end.

I found out that when the water heater or air conditioner are running Black & Decker EM100B costs me about 50 cents per hour. Of course, they don’t run for nearly an hour at a time, but Black & Decker EM100B was interesting to find out that these are the biggest energy black holes in my house. The washer and dryer surprisingly used far less energy, about 12 cents per hour each. Fans and lighting were less than a penny, even when all were turned on at the same time. I do use General Electric 97659 13-Watt (60 Watt equivalent) Energy Smart Soft White Spiral T3 Light Bulb 6-Pack throughout the house, including bathroom vanities, overhead spotlighting, lamps, outdoor lighting, and even our dining room chandelier with upturned lamps. I switched over to CF bulbs completely over a year ago and estimate that alone saves me over $20 per month.

Knowing the outside temperature allowed me to open the windows sooner and has probably saved me $40 over the past month. More than those things though, just being aware of what various things cost to run by isolating them through the tare function has motivated my children to turn off their lights, stereos, TVs, and more to keep costs down.

This tool brings real world costs to the appliances and other electrical items we run daily without any guesswork.

Although the cost is a bit high, I would expect that you could easily see the cost savings in under a year. It’s fun to experiment and see what the washer costs to run using cold vs. using warm/hot. Running Black & Decker EM100B with cold water is a huge cost savings because you are no longer running the hot water heater as well as the washer. That is something I had never really given much thought to in the past. I haven’t done a cost comparison, but I expect that it’s less expensive to buy cold water detergent and run your washer on cold rather than normal detergent and running your washer on warm.

I will caution you though that the batteries run out fast! We put rechargeable batteries in and within 2 weeks they needed recharging. The manufacturer recommends lithium batteries for longer battery life.

If you are looking for an energy monitor, a competing product is the P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor. I have both. The Kill A Watt was useful, but now that I have the Black and Decker EM100B, I no longer use the Kill A Watt. The Kill A Watt is limiting in that many products, especially the big energy hogs do not have traditional plugs or are in hard to reach areas, so not everything can be measured. Additionally, the Kill A Watt takes time to monitor your energy usage, and only monitors one appliance at a time, so Black & Decker EM100B would take months to move Black & Decker EM100B around the house to gauge everything.

Spend the extra money and get the Black and Decker EM100B. You’ll have instant results, power usage estimates, cost estimates, and individual appliance cost of operations.

Black & Decker AF-100 Replacement Spool. Perfect replacement for a hard-to-find item. I was unable to locate these replacement spools for my older model Grass Hog, so I was very pleased to find Black & Decker AF-100-3ZP here. Factory wrapped and first quality product. Dropped one in and was back in business within minutes.

Grass trimmer refills. Replacement spools work pretty good– Three pack is the way to go. Not using my gas to pick up items at Sears Hardware is a real big plus! I like Black & Decker AF-100-3ZP .

Black and Decker String Trimmer is light and easy to use. The trimmer is very light and easy to use. Black & Decker AF-100-3ZP always starts and no need of pulling. The only set back is the life of the battery. Make sure at least two batteries are fully charged. Do trimming of heavy stuff such as edge trimming while the battery has enough juice. The rest of weeds trimming does not take much power to do it. Over all I am satisfied with the trimmer.

Works Very Well!. Went from a reel mower to our first electric — very pleased with it.

We have a small amount of grass so it’s perfect for our yard.

Black & Decker CMM1200 does choke out on the lowest setting — other than that I’d

recommend it. (Would not use their corded mower — that would just

be a pain!)

poor starter handle. Black & Decker CMM1200 mowed great, the battery power didn’t last as long as advertised, and after a few uses there appeared to be smoke coming from the plastic safety starter area and the handle broke off and now Black & Decker CMM1200 sits until I get Black & Decker CMM1200 replaced.

24 volt mower. Fast exelent service; mower has more than adequet power; long charge cycle; is a little heavier than expected but still a very good choice I love Black & Decker CMM1200 .

This mower is amazing!. This is the first time I’ve been moved enough to write a review of a product. I love this mower! I’m female, living in Florida, with St. Augustine grass, and if I’m being honest I can’t remember the last time I did an upper arm workout. I expected to struggle with this, but Scotts 2000-20 was so easy to mow the lawn, I was amazed. Scotts 2000-20 was easy to put together, the height adjustment on the blade was very easy to operate, and Scotts 2000-20 seemed to slice through the grass without any problems whatsoever. I would not hesitate to recommend this product, and hope my neighbors start copying me soon so that we can have quieter weekends with less pollution in my neighborhood soon.

Easier than you’d believe. I used to use a push mower when I was a kid, and never thought, when I had my own house, I’d think of buying one. I own a third of an acre lot, and have a gas mower. But part of the enjoyment of being outside is the quiet and the smell of the grass. The gas powered mower negates both. It’s noisy, and Scotts 2000-20 stinks of exhaust.

I decided to take a chance on a push reel mower. The price was very well worth the gamble. Scotts 2000-20 assembled very quickly – all need to assemble is the handle. And then Scotts 2000-20 was ready to go. (by the way, there is a comfortable foam handle grip.)

The Scotts mower is amazingly easy to use. No starting, no gas. It’s light weight, and solid. All Scotts 2000-20 takes is rolling Scotts 2000-20 across your lawn. The sound is very pleasant, and very quiet! Like my power mower, I just push Scotts 2000-20 along the lawn, but it’s a fraction of the weight, and actually EASIER to push than the power mower.

The scissors action of the reel cutting mechanism does a nicer, more even job of cutting than the spinning rotary blade of the power mower, leaving a more manicured look. A panel across the front prevents shrubs from getting caught in the reel, so you can mow right to the edgle of you lawn.

The biggest difference is that you can’t really have twigs on the lawn, because they just won’t be cut, as they are by a rotary power mower.

Also, you need to mow regularly, because once the grass gets too tall, you’ll have to go over the lawn a few times to get Scotts 2000-20 properly mowed, since the mower doens’t mow too tall grass or weeds well – requiring multiple passes to get ‘em.

I keep the power mower around, too, because the reel mower doesn’t grind up leaves in autumn, so if you compost, keep that old gas guzzler around.

The absolute ease of use was the biggest surprise, and why I recommend people try one of these reel mowers. You can really ENJOY the out of doors again. And I find that it’s fun to use – so I actually LOOK FORWARD to mowing my lawn.

Of course, unless you can convince your neighbors to buy one, or let them use yours, you’ll still have to listen to the roaring, screaming sound pervasive in the American suburb in summer when they do their mowing.

For the price, this mower is a GREAT investment! In the environment, in your health, in a nicer neighborhood.

Don’t Believe The Part About the 2 Year Warranty!!. I was quite pleased with the way Scotts 2000-20 mower worked for year 1. Just as that year ended, the handle broke. Much to my dismay, Amazon was not able to direct me to anyone who could fulfill the warranty on Scotts 2000-20 mower. I spent a couple of hours over the course of two days trying to get some satisfaction, but none was forthcoming. I had hoped that they would at least reimburse me for Year Two of my useless mower’s ownership!

So, potential buyer, purchase at your own risk! Scott no longer makes these mowers and noone else is willing to procure a handle for it.

I’m quite disappointed (for the first time ever) in Amazon’s performance!

It’s NOT a gas mower. I’ve used a Neuton 6.3 for two full seasons on my 1/3 acre (more or less) of lawn. Neuton CE 6.3 works nearly as well as my old gas mower, only bogging down somewhat when the grass is wet or has grown well past the normal mowing stage. One charge will do it. whether Neuton CE 6.3 is “cheaper” than a gas mower remains to be seen. Neuton CE 6.3 does have attributes that a gas mower cannot provide at any price, however. Neuton CE 6.3 is very quiet (an asset in my community with its rules against outside noise), Neuton CE 6.3 requires no maintainance (one less chore to do), Neuton CE 6.3 uses “fuel” from home (no carrying gasoline cans in your car), starting is effortless, and Neuton CE 6.3 releases no fumes (an asset with my basement garage) Does Neuton CE 6.3 have the brute power of a 5 HP gas mower? No, but Neuton CE 6.3 has enough to do a good job, and is cleaner, more convenient, and easier to live with than any gas mower. I like it.

Excellent Mower. I actually have owned the Neuton CE 6.2 model for over one season. The Neuton CE 6.3 is this year’s model.

This is an excellent battery powered mower. It is very light without the battery, and it is around 70 lbs with the battery installed.

The mower is very quiet and is about as loud as a cooling fan. There are little to no vibrations from the motor, which is a huge positive for people like me who have issues with holding vibrating tools for long periods of time.

The battery does last for about an hour, but you should plan out your cutting route. Do not goof around, and you should be able to mow an entire 1/3rd acre yard in one charge. If you have a larger yard or you have a thick blade southern grass yard, then a second battery is recommended.

The motor is maintenance free. No oil or fuel issues like traditional gas powered mowers. The motor starts right away with a fully charged battery. During the winter season, I stored the mower, kept the battery on the charger, and the mower was ready for the spring cutting season with zero hassle or maintenance.

Since it does not emit exhaust and is quiet, mowing the yard is pleasurable. You can smell the cut grass instead of the exhaust fumes and you do not have to wear ear plugs. I do not have an issue pushing the mower since it is only 70 lbs, so I do not miss the self propelled feature. I have a bumpy, uneven lawn, and I do not have a problem pushing the mower. It is no harder than pushing a shopping cart, so most people should not miss the self propelled feature of other mowers.

I would recommend cleaning the underside of the deck after each mow with a garden hose. There is no issue tipping the mower on its side since it will not leak fluids like a gas mower. I would also recommend sharpening the blade at least once a month. Neuton sells a sharpening tool, but any blade sharpener will work. Neuton recommends keeping the battery on the charger when not in use, unless you are storing the mower over a several month period. The owner’s manual has all the details. That is another benefit of the Neuton. Since Neuton is a USA based company, the instructions are in clear English, and the customer service is excellent.

There is also the environmental factor to owning this mower, and that may be important to some people. It was not high on my list, but it is nice to not pollute the air while cutting my lawn. Small gas engines emit more pollution than a car with a V-8 engine, which is something to consider.

However, this mower is probably not cheaper to own than a cheap gas mower. I know you can get a cheap gas mower at your local big box home center for less than $200, but you have to deal with all the negatives of a gas powered mower. It is not fair to compare this mower to a cheap $200 mower. Compare it to a $450 – $500 gas mower, and then one can see the cost savings of the Neuton.

quiet and cuts nicely. I’ve been using a factory-reconditioned 6.2 for a few months now and am generally pleased. I have a 1/4-acre lot and usually am able to cut the entire lawn in one shot without running out of power. My neighbor commented on how quiet Neuton CE 6.3 is, about the sound of a vacuum cleaner – he was much intrigued by it.

On the up side:

- The quality of the lawn cut is very good, the blade spins very fast. With basket attached, Neuton CE 6.3 collects all the cuttings very cleanly.

- It’s fairly light and easy to push. Neuton CE 6.3 is not, however, self-propelled.

- Not having to deal with gas and oil and the problems of starting a gas engine are big pluses.

- Neuton CE 6.3 has good safety features – a key that must be inserted, a power switch, and a sliding button safety for the trigger bar that actually starts the motor.

- There is a power meter, keeping you advised of the amount of electricity left.

And keep in mind the environmental factors – a lawn mower engine can produce as much pollution as 23 cars. Lawn maintenance equipment is now one of the larger pollution sources in major metro areas.

On the down side:

Construction quality has been cut in some areas (probably to cover the cost of the expensive battery):

- The all plastic body scratches fairly easily. I already have deep scratches in the handle from going around bushes.

- The wheels are only secured with interior-tooth washers, not nuts. I’ve had one wheel pop off already, but Neuton CE 6.3 was fairly easily reattached. Still, doesn’t bode well for the long term.

- As the two-star reviewer has noted, cost savings are probably exaggerated. A replacement battery at $115 every 4-5 years (or maybe less, I’ll find out) has got to be on par with the fuel, oil and maintenance of a gas mower.

- Doesn’t mulch particularly well. Depends on length of grass, but Neuton CE 6.3 tends to bunch Neuton CE 6.3 up in unsightly rows. But then, so have most gas mowers I’ve used.

- It’s probably not as powerful as most gas mowers. Neuton CE 6.3 will slow down in dense, tall grass. Still, Neuton CE 6.3 will cut it.

- Neuton CE 6.3 has a little narrower swath than a lot of gas mowers.

- Word of caution: in wet grass, make sure you keep the underside channel cleared. If Neuton CE 6.3 gets jammed with wet, compressed grass, the battery will drain in minutes. You have to flip the mower on its side and manually scrape Neuton CE 6.3 clean every 5-10 minutes in very wet grass. Probably a good idea not to cut wet grass anyway.

- You have to remember to charge the battery up the night before.

And if you don’t recycle the battery at the end of its life, that will probably wipe out all the good you’ve done for the environment.

Overall, I’d recommend the Neuton, it’s convenient, quiet and gets the job done very nicely if you don’t have a huge lawn.

On a side note, I would not recommend the trimmer/edger attachment unless you have long rows of fences. It’s not very versatile and not really more convenient than a regular trimmer.