Arrived half charged so I just tried it out. Works great on getting out impacted old dried leaves between my large (baseball to grapefruit sized) river rock around my front yard waterfall. I used to try to hose the rocks clean, so they have been wetted down and matted. Also cleaned the crannies of a rock retaining wall that collects dried leaves. It DOES move sticks and rocks around too, even across my lawn. I can "air sweep" my gravel free of debris, and then air sweep any loose rocks back into the landscaping (the rocks that got scattered by people or the dog onto the driveway or sidewalk) so I don't have to bend down and pick them up or play rock hockey with my foot. This was easy: Chicken poos air-swept off patio pavers and onto the lawn where they can be watered in as fertilizer. I loved using this for cleaning the patio pavers (we enjoy our backyard chickens but daily cleanup of patio pavement has been a chore). This sweeper makes it fun. I used up the charge it came with in about 15-20 min. Then charged it for an hour or so, and couldn't help myself. I just had to go outside and use it some more. I swept for another 15-20 minutes and only used half the charge. I look forward to sweeping tomorrow morning when I tackle the leaf buildup in my strawberry bed. Tonight the yard looks so nice in front and back and it was fun and quick. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis, just in my early 60s and yardwork has always hurt my back, arms, neck. Last year I picked up leaves by hand, kneeling on a pillow because our old blower is too heavy. This year I feel very happy to be able to air sweep the yard in minutes, and my body doesn't hurt as a result. Big smile on my face. We live in a dry climate, and I know that others say this sweeper won't work on wet leaves. Not a problem for us. Even after it rains, just wait a half day and its dry. Glad I got this more expensive version with the quick charger and longer battery life and the air-speed dial. On "1" I can blow leaves into a pile. On "6" I can blast leaves out of crannies. I like the scraper at the end of the concentrator has a shovel nose turned up edge that can dig under impacted leaves and the nose is narrow enough to get between my river rocks. I am still getting the hang of blowing stuff into a pile and thinking maybe I'll set up the old blower laying on its side, set it up on vacuum/mulcher mode and use this new sweeper to sweep leaves toward the vacuum mouth. Should work!

I have had 2 of the B and D 18 volt Ni-cad cordless sweepers. I also have the 18 volt trimmer and hedgetrimmer.....The Problem: the batteries only last 1-2 seasons and then slowly die or hold a charge for only about 5 minutes. A new 18 volt Ni-cad battery costs $39 at Lowe's. The standard charger takes 8-10 hours to charge. Once the battery is taken off the charger, it immediately starts to lose a charge and will have significantly less power by the next day. Even with about 6 of the 18 volt batteries, I had to seriously plan ahead which yard tasks I needed to accomplish in my small suburban yard.

I decided to get the 36 volt lithium ion cordless sweeper and trimmer...the prices are still too high, but for the convenience of not dragging around a 150' corded device, I splurged. I bought the sweeper on Amazon and the trimmer at Lowe's ( although recently the price on the trimmer on Amazon is now $5 less than Lowe's.)

I have used the sweeper twice....the battery lasts about 20 minutes on the max setting. It recharges fully in about one hour ( at least the charger indicates a full charge). Since I bought 2 devices, I have 2 batteries and 2 quick chargers. I bought an extra battery from Amazon last week for $48. The price has varied alot on Amazon for the battery....today it is $68. With the old 18 volt Ni-cad battery, the power would slowly fade over a few minutes before competely dead. The 36 volt lithium ion battery just pretty much died all at once. Product advertising for the 36 volt battery indicates that the battery will hold a charge for 500 some days, but there is a written instruction to charge it up before using, so I can't commment on how long and powerful a charge the 36 volt bettery will provide once it is fully charged.

As for the power of the sweeper itself, I think that the max setting on the 36 volt verion is comparable to the output of the 18 volt Ni-cad sweeper. The 1-2 settings ( low) are comparable to when the 18 volt version was about to die.

This is not a "Blower" in the traditional sense in that it will not blow up a big pile of leaves in your yard....it truly is a "sweeper". It is great for sweeping grass clippings, ash seeds, and small amounts of leaves off of my driveway, sidewalk, and patios. It also does a good job of sweeping out debris from my garage. I also use it to clean out my gutters....I either walk on the roof and blow the debris out of the gutter or stand on a ladder and blow out the gutter.

Hopefully, these 36 volt lithium ion batteries will hold their charge and continue to charge quickly. If so, I can't ask for a better device.

Thought it would be a bit more powerful given the battery size

This is a great handheld cordless and rechargeable blower. I had one just like it that was a Craftsman. I heard that Black and Decker bought electric craftsman tools and wanted the same one that served me well for 9 years. This is nearly identical to my Craftsman in every way including performance.

This blower is powerful. It has a variable speed but I'm just gonna use it cranked to 6 all the time.
I was using nonstop for atleast 40 mins for the battery died. I probably could have turned it down to 4 and got more time out of it but I wasn't blowing leaves, i was moving dirt clumps and leave clumps from last year from my patio. This was much easier than sweeping with a shop broom.