Customer Reviews:
 Poor engineering September 25, 2008
My old version of this mower just stopped working and the repair guy said it would cost $250 for a new starter, new battery... So I bought a new one. He said that the new ones were not as well manufactured. I couldn't imagine how you could make things worse (it is a simple product and just adopting improvement over the years should be really easy).
But, the starter on this model is horrible. You have to tun this incredibly cheap key in a very poorly designed socket. Fails over 80% of the time. The old model started easily essentially every time. The design was just as you would expect, foolproof. Whatever pointy haired boss approved this designed needs to go into another line of work.
The ability of the mower to cope with high grass is very poor - much worse than the previous model. I had a good test at first given the time between my mower breaking and getting the new one. Not often an issue, but still not a good thing.
They had a poor indication of the charge left in the battery previously. They now provide no indication of the charge left. It makes you realize that a poor indication was much better than none.
Battery technology has improved a great deal, and that was one of biggest the weaknesses of the last one. Well they seem to have managed to provide worse battery performance after 5 years of improvement in that technology. Pretty sad.
The bag design is much better than the previous model. You have to assemble it yourself but it is much more sturdy and much better designed - you can replace the fabric and keep the frame. The old model the entire things needed to be replaced if the fabric broke. And given the flimsy design mine broke very early on.
The old model has an extremely cheap hand hold (rubber over the medal to cushion your hands) that broke within months. This one seems to have the same very poor hand holds - that are already breaking.
The new design (again some pointy haired boss decision, I imagine, I sure hope no engineer suggested this) has a flimsy plastic handle that you most hold with 1 hand of the mower power goes off. The old model had a solid medal bar that either hand could control. This is extremely annoying if you have to maneuver (around bushes, into tight areas...) and don't have the flexibility to let go with one hand ever.
Sadly, until some managers leave Toyota and found a company based on the management and engineering principles at Toyota I am not confident any other manufacturer will do any better. Pretty sad that so many obviously bad engineering decisions can be apparent so quickly and that companies making such decisions actually stay in business.
Electric lawn mowers are definitely preferable for cost, ease of maintenance and environmental reasons to gas mowers. So I will keep using this mower, but it worse than the previous model (the bag seems to be the only improvement), which I find extremely lame. Companies should improve products over time, not go backwards.
 Better then I expected ! September 25, 2008
I was able to pick this mower up brand new off of ebay at a considerable discount last winter. I have been using it since the first cut of spring and....i really like it. No gas, no mess, no smell, no spark plugs. It has more than enough power for my yard(50X100)and i love the easy wheel adjustment which adjusts the whole deck at once. Quiet? Yes a bit quieter then the gas mowers, which is nice. I have had better cuts with gas mowers but i will not be taking out my gas mower again unless this thing breaks down. If the longevity is high with this mower i will consider it a wise purchase.
 Great Buy September 21, 2008
Lite weight, so it's easy to push. Don't try to cut grass when it's wet or to high. Follow the directions and you will be pleased. Also the price is rite on Amazon.com
 Not what I was expecting September 18, 2008
I just came in from another 2/3 mowed lawn. It ran out of battery power once again.
The downsides:
-I can only mow the entire lawn (< .25 acres) if the grass is short and I RUN to finish it before the power runs out. On a good day, I can mow for 45 minutes, so if you spend more time on your yard than that, this is not for you. I want to mow one day a week, not one day to start and another day to finish. I called the service center about this and they were no help at all.
-It's heavy. I'm a woman of "pre-retirement age" but I have always mowed my own lawn without a problem. Moving this mower, and pushing it up hill is a challenge, and I know it won't get any easier for me in coming years.
-I use the mulcher. I don't use the bag because our town requires us to deliver yard waste to a central collection point, which only means I would burn gas to get it there and I don't have the time to do that anyway. It does not mulch well - it leaves big clumps of cut grass all over the lawn. When I look out a day or two later, the yard is covered with brown, decaying lumps of cut grass. It also means I drag clumps into the house on the bottom of my shoes. To me, a mulching mower means it cuts the grass so fine it doesn't clump, but that is not what I see on my lawn.
-Noise. I expected it to be much quieter than a gas mower, but it is only marginally so.
The upside:
- I'm delighted to not be burning gas, using oil, and to be done with the maintenance my gas mowers required (oil changes, air filter changes, carburetor treatments and more). I'm glad this mower starts every time and I don't have to fight to get it going. But that is small comfort when I have to double my efforts to get my small lawn mowed in one session.
- I have a second home in another state and was so hoping this would work out so I could use an electric mower there too, but after this experience, I would not consider it all.
Great Product. September 17, 2008
I have had this lawn mower for over year and love it. It is very easy to operate and adjust with a decent battery life. I have a grass area of more than 10,000 square feet and can easily mow it with one charge when the grass is not too long. No more pulling on a cord with frustration. This mower turns on every time with a pull on the lever.
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