BLACK+DECKER 20V* MAX String Trimmer and Edger, EASYFEED Weed Wacker, 12 Inch Cutting Width, 2 Speed Control Weed Eater, (1) Battery and Charger Included (LSTE523)

This is a great trimmer for home use. It's light, can do both trimming and edging, and has improved significantly over the previous model. The cordless concept gives you a lot of freedom. I have a corded edger with a blade and it's great for the really challenging parts of the lawn, but nothing beats the convenience of this cordless model. How well does it trim? For a home with a front and back yard (probably around 4000 sq ft lawn space) I found the 3Ah battery just enough to cover both yards if using a judicious mix of the two power settings. The low power setting is fine for most of the trimming and even some of the edging, but I use the higher power setting for thicker growth. This is for St. Augustine grass common in the south. If you have hardier substances to cut or if you need to use the higher power setting more than I do you may have to charge in the middle of the job and it does take a while to charge an empty battery. You can also buy additional compatible batteries on the Black and Decker 20v systems on Amazon which I would recommend for those with larger/tougher jobs. Which one is for you? The biggest differences with this model series are the batteries they come with and the string feed mechanism. I've included a chart to help understand the differences between the models. Some thoughts: - The basic 522 and 523 appear to be physically identical trimmers except for the string feed. The 522's is automatic, the 523's is manual. My old 400 had an automatic feed that worked but there were times I would have liked to have been able to feed it when the automatic didn't trigger. - The 523 appears to be sold in two options (at least it was when I bought mine). One option comes with a 3Ah battery, the other comes with a 1.5Ah battery. The bigger battery is heavier but lasts longer. If you have a smaller lawn, or you want the lightest weight, maybe the smaller battery unit is better for you. Although the unit is not heavy, you may feel it after using it for forty minutes. Again, if battery life is an issue, Amazon sells additional batteries separately, and they're compatible with the whole line of Black and Decker devices including cutters, drills, and more. - The 525 seems to be identical to the 523 but comes with a choice of either a 3Ah battery or two 1.5Ah batteries. - The entire 500 series (522, 523, etc) are a big improvement over the 400 series due to modifications to the trimmer/edger conversion mechanism and also the change of the auxiliary handle's friction clamp to instead a fixed pivot point on the handle assembly. This makes the 500 series easier to use and more reliable. 6-Jun-2019 update: Saw a bunch of negative reviews from people that had issues with quality control on their units. I don't doubt them. I had issues with the previous generation of this unit. All I can say is that even with issues, I got four years out of the previous model and this one so far has worked fine. Stories of the awful (and probably outsourced) support from Black and Decker are disappointing, but that's the price of dealing with some corporations.

I bought the LSTE523 which comes with a single 3.0 Ah battery instead of the LSTE525 which has a pair of 1.5 Ah batteries. The main reason is because I have a bunch of the 1.5 Ah batteries for my other Black and Decker 20V Lithium Max devices. The 3.0 Ah battery comes with a 400mA charger, whereas the normal charger is 200 mA. So if you wanted a higher capacity battery to use for other devices (like a leaf blower/sweeper), this is the model to get. That being said, I ran my LSTE523 in Mode 1 (power saving) with one of the 1.5 Ah batteries I had (not fully charged) and was able to clear up my yard of weeds and even edged the front lawn on that single battery. So I am unsure why others said their batteries only lasted 5-20 minutes. I was able to run it longer than 20 minutes on a half charged 1.5 Ah battery, basically doing the front and back yards without any hassle. The unit is very lightweight and easy to use by anyone. Switching to edger mode takes half a second by using 2 knobs. The unit takes 0.065 string and comes with a small spool of clear trimmer line. I didn't really need to extend the trimmer line during operation. What impressed me the most was the power of the motor on the lowest power setting. It make short work of thick grass that my mower couldn't reach. I hated using the gas trimmer, especially the 2-stroke trimmers. They were heavy, finicky, hard to start, and smelled terrible. I recommend the 3.0 Ah just to get the bigger battery and faster charger.

I recently had a two year old, $200 gas powered trimmer go out. Tried to get it repaired, but the motor had lost compression and was not economical to fix. Needless to say, I have been extremely dissapointed at the longevity I got out of that one and decided to explore some alternatives. I have just under a 1 acre lot, so quite a bit of edges to keep trimmed. After researching, it seemed like the main negatives to battery powered models are: 1. Batteries don't run very long in a cycle. 2. Batteries have a short lifespan. I ended up going with this model over the more expensive, but similarly specc'd Dewalt version when I found that there were replacement batteries available on Amazon at a reasonable price. The available/cheap replacement batteries take care of issue #2 for me. As far as #1 goes, the run time I get off a charge is acceptable. I only run it in the high power mode (power issued addressed next) and I comfortably get 20 minutes. I don't generally don't do the entire yard every week, so this is more than enough time for my needs. I presume that it would get substantially longer run times on the low power mode. My main complaint is something that wasn't on the original list -- lack of power. Even when I run it at the high power setting, it isn't anywhere near the level of a gas powered version. "That's not a fair comparison" you say? I disagree -- this is sold as a trimmer tool, and it should meet the performance expectations of that tool. Electric motors should be able to put out plenty of torque. Part of the power issue is that the string dispenser lets out only one strand instead of two that you normally see on a gas powered version. Even if it spun at the same speed/torque, it just doesn't have the same ability to mow down grass. That said, it does get the job done, albeit a bit slower than I'd like. Of course, this version has several benefits over a gas powered trimmer: It's lighter, it doesn't require me to maintain a oil/gas tank, it's easy to start, and the string dispenser is easy to change. Battery charging time is a non-issue for me, and the battery charger included is compact. If I can get a couple years out of this tool, I'll count it as a success.

I've been using my old B&D trimmer for 20 years and it still works but it's too small (I'm over 6' tall) and corded. I recently tried out a friend's new cordless trimmer and it was great but too heavy. It was time to upgrade so I got the B&D LSTE523 since it's about 2 lbs lighter than the one I tried. Comments: I wish it could be extended a bit longer like by an inch or two so I wouldn't have to bend over as much since I'm 6'2" but it's a lot longer than my previous one. Seems to shoot out a lot of debris but probably cause it's more powerful; wear protect gear! It is the best trimmer I've ever owned; I find myself anxious for the grass/weeds to grow longer so I use the trimmer lol. Pros: Battery provides an hour of power, plenty for my medium size yard. Much more powerful than my previous one and good enough to quickly trim the edges in the roll mode. Auto cable feeder works well; don't really need to use the button to extend the line. Adjustable handle is great as i can change the position for comfort depending on the task and for storage. Unlike gas trimmers, no gas, oil, filters, smells, starting issues to worry about. Cons: Battery a little heavy since it's bigger. The charger that it came with is slow and takes 7.5 hours to charge it if the battery is empty (not a big deal as I only need to trim grass once a week or less). BTW, the LSTE525 comes with 2 smaller batteries if the weight is an issue (costs a bit more though).

It works fine. The automatic feed works, unlike others I have had.

I was not sure about buying an electric trimmer, but my gas model was too heavy for my wife and too noisy and difficult to start for me. The Black and Decker model had a good price point, and I found the two stage motor worked great when I encountered thicker grass. No problems with the battery as it is strong enough to last for my entire yard and I have gardens front and rear on 1/2 acre. More than pleased with this trimmer.

The product arrived on the last designated day which was fine. I read a review that said the product was delivered in clear plastic. Mine was delivered in a Black & Decker box with all the info printed on it. There was one small puncture in the box but no damage to the product. I was a Quality Engineer before I retired and I am impressed with the Engineering design of this unit. I can adjust the length quickly and easily, rotate 180 degrees to use as an edger in 3 seconds, and finally it lets out 1 inch of new line with a press of a button. It doesn't get any easier than that. Well thought out design is sturdy and light weight so much so that it is fun to use. I highly recommend this product. The price was great too.

Very good, happy with its performance.