The swing out is a nice feature except when you try to recoil the hose. My husband had to secure it all to the wall to
prevent it swinging out. Hose reel is very sturdy and looks well made.

There are some really nice features I like a lot. First, it's metal and I mean heavy duty metal, not flimsy at all. Whether or not you will be happy with this reel will be directly related to your ability to mount it to the wall. Forget about trying to mount this reel to a brick wall using any type of anchor insert. The reel plus hose will be much to heavy and as soon as you start trying to crank in the hose the anchors will pull straight out of the wall. It's just to heavy and there is to much force applied. You must be able to use something like 1/4" diameter 6inch long bolts and drill all the way through the wall and secure using nuts and washers on the back side. If you have a wood sided house, you must find the studs behind the exterior wall and use larger wood threaded bolts than those supplied with the yard butler. I would recommend at least 4" long bolts. Once mounted correctly, you'll love this reel. Extremely nice being able to lift the reel and hose off to carry inside for the winter. Nice fittings that do not promote leaking. It would be nice if Yard Butler gave you the choice of a right hand mounting or a left hand mounting. Winding in the hose can be a little awkward depending on which side of the yard the hose is coming from.

Update: I originally purchased this reel in Oct. of 2013. Here it is Oct. 2020 and the reel has finally succumbed to leaks. Seven years of service is more than I had hoped for. Apparently the seals inside the reel are not replaceable. I was hoping a simple O ring replacement would stop the leaking but I think the part of the reel containing the leaking seal was pressed in at the factory and permanently sealed. Unfortunate because the reel is still in very good condition with minimal rusting. Granted, I always took the reel inside for the winter after draining the water. Still say this is the best hose reel I've ever owned .

I'm very pleased with this metal reel so far; it's very sturdy and the hinge allows the reel to align with the hose as I roll it in, stopping me from having to provide (much) guidance to keep the hose evenly rolled. I can also use a towel to clean the hose as I crank it in, which I couldn't do with just a hanger. The finish appears powder-coated and looks really great; it's really good quality and I expect it to last many years.
The hinge is on the left. There is no way to make it hinge from the right unless you were OK with the feeder hose connecting to the reel on the front, not back. The unit I received had no catch or lock to keep it from swiveling out if a kid pulled on it. I mounted the bar at a slight incline to try to keep the reel against the wall when rolled in to avoid it being left out and car doors hitting it. I would have given the mounting bar more incline if I could get to the studs through the bolt holes. The holes in the mount are a little over 16" apart.
The hose on the reel is a 75' premium 5/8" rubber black Craftsman hose. Cranking the full length 75' rubber hose in can be a little awkward but it beats the alternative of looping it over a static hose holder.

I like how sturdy this reel is, so much so that this is my third one so I have one on each side of my house/yard. Difficult to attach to a stucco wall since typical plastic anchors would just pull out due to the weight and it's hard to find a stud behind the stucco. Also, I wish they had an option to not swivel which would make it easier to reel in the hose.

I absolutely loved this hose reel while it was working. But I'm very sorry to say that less than two years after I installed it, both of the hose attachment fixtures have disintegrated. They claim to offer a lifetime warranty, so I contacted them, and will update here if they make good.

UPDATE: The company did a good job handling the problem I described above. They dealt with the issue quickly and personally, and sent perfect replacements for the broken parts. I will say, it took a bit of handiness to swap out the parts, but all in all, I am really pleased with their warranty coverage.