BLACK+DECKER 3-in-1 Electric Leaf Blower, Leaf Vacuum, Mulcher (BEBL7000)

OK, I don’ know why they keep trying to make these tools do two things: vac and blow leaves. None of them ever do both jobs well, so face it, we all have (or want to have) one tool that vacuums the leaves and one that blows them.With two tools it also keeps you from having to mess with the always frustrating process of switching the tool from one mode to the other.OK, on to what this is good at. This is the BEST leaf vac I’ve ever used!! I had a Toro, which is still highly rated, but I wasn’t super happy with it. Needless to say, when it died, I wasn’t all that upset. I actually went and bought the new Toro model hoping it would be better. It wasn’t. The ergonomics are all wrong and carrying the bag that’s low to the ground is a pain in the you-know-what!Sooooo, when I saw this cool blower/vac/mulcher, I was very excited. Obviously, since it comes with a backpack, they put more emphasis on the vac & mulching aspects, and it shows. This is a terrible leaf blower in my opinion, which is why I have a separate blower for that and that is all it does and it does it quite well. This does not, but, boy does it suck up leaves like a guy at a hotdog eating contest!! How it does that so well without picking up all of my rocks, I don’t know, but it does and I am thrilled. My Toro was never this good at picking up leaves, but seemed to always pick up rocks. Go figure.On top of the good suction, the backpack is really a wonderful improvement over most setups. You don’t even realize it’s full because the weight is so easily carried on your back. This has improved the process of cleaning up my leaves so much, I hardly notice that there’s a cord. Of course, if I could find a cordless model with this much suction AND a backpack I would be on that like flies on Grandma’s apple pie, but I don’t see that happening soon. I also have the B&D 40-volt battery powered sweeper vac and it’s great for what I need it for (picking up cotton wood fluff every spring), but it can’t pick up a leaf to save its little life! So, having just the cord to drag around and not the heavy bag as well is a HUGE improvement.Now, I had really wanted a vac with a metal impeller and this one is plastic. I’m guessing it might not last as long, but for only $69, I don’t really care if I have to replace it every few years. My Toro had a plastic impeller and actually lasted over 8 years, so maybe the metal blade isn’t that big a deal.My headline says this is a beast, and it is. At first I thought, dang, this is heavy! I’m a 5’1″ female, so the weight has the potential of being a real drag getting stuff done and not running out of gas (me, not the vac, it’s electric, remember?). :)But despite the somewhat hefty weight, it’s so balanced you don’t notice it. It also has an extra handle to spread out the weight even more. Brilliant!I don’t write a lot of reviews, but I just had to write about this vac. I absolutely love it and it’s the best $70 I’ve spent in a long time.For the people who said the bag leaks all over the place — not to be mean, but I’m quite baffled how you could not figure this out. You just have to roll the end up a good 3 times or more before you buckle it (I always roll it 3 times). This is so simple I think a 5-year old could figure it out. There are some not so smart people in the world though, and some of them obviously bought this tool. Hopefully you have figured it out by now.