I decided to buy this trimmer after reading all the reviews for the Ni-cad one. I was hoping the Li-ion battery would give me extra run time. So far, I haven't been able to run it down! I haven't had enough trimming at one time to see how long it will go.
I have a friend that recommended this trimmer (although he has the ni-cad one). I must say that I'm pleased with it. I previously had a 24 volt one from Sears. It was a good trimmer, but heavy. The Worx is much lighter. It doesn't have as much power as the Sears, but plenty for normal yard work. One of the first things I noticed is that it actually cuts better than my old Sears model. If you're expecting a full blown replacement for a grass trimmer, you will probably be disappointed. It doesn't have near that much power. But, if you're realistic in your expectations, and have normal yard work, I think you'll like it. If you go to the Worx web site, you can get your string for just the cost of shipping. I ordered six spools and it cost me about $6.00 for the shipping. That's very reasonable in my book. The quality of the unit appears to be very good too. I am very satisfied with my purchase. WORX GT WG151.5 18-Volt Lithium Ion Cordless Electric String Trimmer/Edger With Quick Charger
I have the Worx GT 18-volt cordless trimmer. This is the more expensive model that features a lithium battery. If you have any amount of lawn trimming to do beyond the circumference of a 5,000 square foot lawn, carefully consider the more expensive model. The battery potential of the standard model is significantly less which means you have less operation time to begin with and gradually deceasing work time as the battery ages. The added expense of the lithium battery is worth the investment.
However beware of the Worx customer service. If for any reason you have a need to invoke a warranty claim on the trimmer, charger, or battery, plan on having at least a free half hour to wait on the phone for a customer service representative. Customer service is only available during a traditional work-hour week. This means if something goes wrong you better be mindful of the anniversary date of your purchase and give calling the Worx customer service your highest priority in your schedule. The email access is unreliable because it seems Worx has only one person responding. If she is out of the office, you will get an automated reply email instructing you to use the phone system.
My lithium battery failed within the time of the one-year warranty. I had trouble reaching a customer service representative during office hours. My email claim resulted in my being redirected to the phone system. Seven days after my warranty expired I finally reached a service representative. Despite the fact of my good-faith effort to get through to customer service the preceding two weeks, I was denied the warranty replacement because I was seven days late. The representatives were empathetically kind about my dilemma but were unable to do anything beyond their willingness to take my order for a new unit. These batteries are expensive.
I submitted a letter of complaint to the Worx corporate office. We will see what they do because I will update this blog entry with a summary of the outcome.
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Update --- July 1, 2010
I have a confirmed delivery of my letter to the Worx corporate office in Charlotte, NC, as of June 14, 2010. My letter was respectfully crafted requesting that my warranty claim be honored, given that my good-faith effort for a timely claim was frustrated by the poorly structured Worx customer service system. As of July 1, the Worx customer service failed to make any effort to respond. It seems that, although the Worx product is a decent yard tool, the buyer would need to understand that Worx is not interested in post-market customer satisfaction. Once you have your Worx tool, you are on your own despite the stated warranty because, in effect, Worx structured the customer service to be unresponsive beyond taking new purchase orders.
I noticed that the tool is designed to encourage the customer to be depended upon Worx to return each year to order spent trimmer line and purchase new batteries. Although the line is "free", the shipping and handling cost is pricey. One would do better to save the spool and rewind it with less expensive line from any hardware store. The batteries are expensive to replace every year. This is especially aggravating considering that ordinarily a reasonably manufactured lithium battery could easily last two or more years at a usage rate of one recharge per week. My battery lasted only 15 recharges. Given the battery price, the actual cost of each battery charge is about $4.00 plus the electrical service fee. I do not know if the competition is any better, but buyer beware of Worx customer service.
This trimmer has proved very serviceable for my 1/3 acre suburban lawn. It's not as high powered as the gas driven other brands out there, but for general trimming around the foundation, flower beds, fence posts, etc. it's a great machine.
I like the flexibliity of the unit: the handle articulates, the aluminum shaft telescopes to adjust for user height, and the cutter head angle adjusts to insure comfortable hortizontal trimming. Definitely, a well-designed unit from an ergonometric perspective. In the trimmer mode, the cutter guide/guard provides close, precise trimming without accidentally damaging plants or flowers, something hard to achieve with my old corded Toro. A few quick snaps and adjustments and the unit converts into a sidewalk or driveway edger. A caveat here: the unit trims nicely as an edger, but it's not definitely not powered to trench cut with the trimmer cord. When I tried to get the machine to cut into the dirt next to the sidewalk, it balked and the trimmer string would not advance properly. If used just to edge the grass with a clean vertical cut, the unit performed nicely.
Power-wise, the GT's lithium ion battery provides sufficient power to handle my 1/3 acre routine trimming on one full charge. The user manual indicated a 30 minute recharge cycle for a full recharge, but my recharges have been about 40-45 minutes--still a very quick recharge time compared to other battery-powered models. I pushed the unit by tackling some overgrown grass and weeds in the adjacent vacant lot and it cut them nicely, but they obviously strained the unit to the limits of its power capacity. It can handle that type of work, but if you have lots of it, you're better off with another machine with more power.
If you're in the market for a lightweight, easy to use, comfortable trimmer/edger with good power for general trimming and edging on a typically sized suburban lawn, the WE151.5 is a good choice. The old corded Toro trimmer I replaced with the Worx GT was nowhere near as versatile, convenient, or comfortable to use. Good job, Worx! - Cordless Weed Whacker - Cordless Trimmer - Cordless Weed Eater - Cordless Grass Trimmer'
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