I was really hesitant when it came to buying any battery powered products as I just didn't believe they were up to standard in comparison to petrol powered machinery. In the case of the Echo DHC-200 hedge trimmer, I was completely wrong. Firstly it has a huge amount of power which I was absolutely shocked by as it's an extremely light unit, tough and durable blades that seem to never need sharpening (over a year a constant use and never required a sharpen), battery time that seems to last much longer than a tank from all petrol powered units that I have used, pollution free and then the obvious, pretty much silent. Another fine Echo product that I absolutely love!