My first trimmer bit the dust after many years of cutting, so I had to buy a replacement. Works really well, cuts great and isn't very heavy. I'm very satisfied with it.

Pluses: Don't have to mess with gas or starting.
Minuses: Not as powerful as gas powered. Struggles on 1/2in or more stems. Must buy and manage electrical cord.
Overall though I recommend this tool. Except for my lawn mower and trimmer I've gone electric on everything else. My electric edger is one of my best investments.

I have 3 large shrubs, plus a hedge. We get a lot of rain up here, which makes them all grow faster then normal. I have actually owned a Black & Decker trimmer before, the HTO18 to be exact. It was a really great trimmer, until I damaged it by getting a piece of 1/8" diameter bar stuck in the blades.

MOTOR: This electric hedge trimmer uses a 3.3-AMP motor. Even though this is a larger motor then the HTO18, I feel that it is a bit underpowered for its 24" blade. You have to let the machine do the work, do not try to force this hedge trimmer!

BLADE: I am overall happy with the quality of the blade, but it is far from being a commercial blade. As mentioned, it is 24" long, I find this to be plenty long for all jobs. However, If trying to cut larger branches then 3/4", please use a pair of loppers.

With the HTO18, I was always having to over-reach, when trimming large shrubs due to the 18" size. One of the many things I like about the HH2455 is, that I no longer have to over-reach anymore. This allows me to work more productively, and reduces stress on my back.

HANDLE: I really like the handle design on this trimmer over the older HTO18 style. For one thing, the HH2455 has a more comfortable rubber grip. This new model also boasts a very cool new feature, never seen in hedge trimmers before. Using buttons on either side, you can rotate the handle to your desired position. I really like this, as it allows me to operate the trimmer in different positions, without developing carpal tunnel!

SHRUBS: When hedge trimming, what you want to do, is keep a good fluid, and even motion. For example, while cutting my shrubs, I like them to be round shaped. So, I like to go slowly, and let the trimmer do the work. I find that it cuts really well, and leaves a very clean and even cut. I was pretty happy with how my shrubs turned out, and never needed more power for the job at hand.

HEDGE: Hedges are the reason why hedge trimmers were made. Hedges are usually long, and require a lot of trimming to get them to look nice. I am sure you have passed by a business and said to yourself, "Oh, I wish my hedges looked that nice." The truth is, they can be, if you use a hedge trimmer. Never expect them to look nice, when cut with a hedge shear. I like to trim my hedges in the standard square shape, and I like them to be even.

Just like with the shrubs, I like to go nice and slow, to let the machine do the work. With hedges, I like to use a vertical sweeping motion, upwards and downwards. I find that this trimmer, cuts fine and even, just like with the shrubs. Though I don't need to, you can use pieces of string, to create a straight line to trim along. On the top of my hedge, I use a horizontal sweeping motion, moving slowly just like before. And just like before, it cuts finely and evenly, as long as I maintain my fluid motion.

CONCLUSION: I felt that this electric hedge trimmer by Black & Decker was quite good. However, I am concerned that the motor is a bit underpowered for its blade size, perhaps a 4-AMP would be better? The trimmer feels good in my hand and the weight is balanced well. The rotating handle was an excellent new addition to the trimmer, and hope that all future models have this! Just remember, its for home use only, not to landscape somebody's 4 foot wide by 200 foot long hedge.

UPDATE! NOV 22 2018

I wanted to give people an update on this trimmer since it is now dead. I got 7-years of life out of this tool, before the trimmer was no longer able to make the blades move, and the motor burned up. Since B&D is a home owner's occasional use tool, I am really not surprised. I am however surprised that my older B&D HTO18 trimmer is still functional, and it also had a stronger motor since day 1! Its too small for doing large shrubs though, so thats why I rarely used it.

I am honestly surprised that B&D is still selling this model after 7-years. I guess the company is no longer producing newer and better models, sad, because the HH2455 requires improvement. So many of times I was milking the trimmer by using lots of lubricant, trying to keep the blades going for as long as I could. The motor was always weaker then the smaller HTO18 model, but it just couldn't handle the stress.

I was looking at gas hedge trimmers as a replacement at first, knowing I would never use a corded electric model again. But the only good gas hedge trimmers that I could find with solid 5-STAR ratings across the board, were made by Stihl. All of their trimmers cost 500 dollars or more, and what you get is bad fumes, emissions, carburetors to fail and have to service, along all the other typical maintenance routines you have to do with a gas engine.

So after lots of research, I decided to go with the Milwaukee M18 Brushless Fuel 24" Hedge Trimmer. Its cordless, and runs off of 9.0 lithium batteries. The weight of the trimmer is the same as a gas model, but has none of the gas engine drawbacks. Clean power, clean emissions, clean everything, and the quality of a commercial gas unit. Everything is going battery operated these days, because the new battery systems are far superior. If your looking at this B&D trimmer in 2019, do yourself a favor, buy a Milwaukee instead.

These hedge trimmers are a great value and they will work very hard for years to come. They eventually break, but considering the sheer volume of trimming I've used these trimmers for, they are hard to beat. I think I bought my previous trimmer about eight or nine years ago, and I'm not kidding, I've probably used that thing at least once a week since then. Buy one, you won't regret it.

I chose a corded rather than a battery operated trimmer because the amout of cutting I need to do will certainly drain any battery before I can finish the job. So I decided that I would graduate to the Black & Decker HH2455 from a set of shears, and I'm easy to please from this perspective. But it did not start off good. The trimmer arrived in what was quite a damaged original B&D box, i.e. the trimmer was not in any additional shipping box. This is totally inadequate shipping for this trimmer - the original B&D box does not have enough rigidity to prevent the long blade from bending, especially during shipping in such an awkward package. I'll bet at least half of these trimmers arrive with the blade bent. The blade on mine arrived bent way out of shape; I was SO disappointed. I can't believe the carrier left such a damaged thing on my doorstep. Took pictures to document the damage, got on line and printed the return slip, and packaged it up in a real shipping box, and sent back to Amazon for a replacement.

The replacement came the next day (I am very pleased with the whole return process with Amazon, that's a big reason why I bought it here). The replacement arrived, again in the original B&D box, but not nearly as damaged. The blade was only bent a bit, it was easy to bend back and it seemed to work ok so I decided to keep it.

I tried it out first on a very overgrown privet hedge, then some junipers, small tree branches, and rose bushes. My 17 year old son was aching to play with it too, so he gave it a shot. Did better with it than I did, so another plus! I was very pleased with the performance. Easy to use and does not take much practice or skill to do a good job. Also glad I got this 24-inch, rather than the 22-Inch that I was seriously considering (HT512 has more powerful motor and lower price than the HH2455). The HH2455 has a 3.3 amp motor (compared to the HT512 with 3.8 amps) but seems to have no problem cutting ¾ inch or more branches so the power is fine. The longer reach is more important to me since I have to reach high and far for some trimming, so the extra 2 inches makes a big difference. Also easier to reach lower when trimming near the ground - don't have to bend as much.

The dual action blades work well and cut clean and quick, and the whole unit has low vibration and good balance- a good design - it feels good in the hands if you know what I mean. The rotating handle is very useful too - it has locking position at 0, +/- 50, and +/- 90 degrees (refer to the product video). I also liked that the power switch can be locked on, so you don't always have to clutch the on switch to keep it running when reaching far or at difficult angles. This trimmer also has the power cord retention tab so you don't have to tie a knot with the power cord, you just hook the power cord on the tab and it stays. Overall, this trimmer seems well made and I expect it to last a long time. And a 2-year warranty too.

I only used this trimmer once this year so far, and it's already cleaned up and hung in the garage till next year. I'm not sure when/if/how I'll need to sharpen the blades. But I did not notice any degraded cutting performance from when I started to when I finished trimming, so was pleased at least this far. On the one hand, the blades are not bomb proof, but they do not appear to be cheaply made either. The blades and bar are pretty solid and heavy duty enough for a trimmer.

On the negative side, other than the shipping container issue, I noticed that the 0 degree handle position does not lock as solidly as the other positions. The 0 degree handle position does not lock firmly, there still is a bit of sloppiness, maybe like +/- 3 degrees - just enough to notice and make me wonder if something is worn or not adjusted quite right with the handle rotation mechanism. Not a big deal though, I did not even notice it while trimming.