I bought a DeWalt portable leaf blower and wanted to pass along my experience. Quick comment - I'm happy with it.

I have an electric leaf blower and it does a good job, but having to deal with the cord is a hassle. The cord limits where you can go (by length) and it's constantly getting hooked on something. So I wanted a real portable.

I chose the DeWalt because I have DeWalt power tools and I could share the batteries. The DeWalt leaf blower comes with a 5Ah battery and that gives me a good amount of time to get the work done. I can do my front and back yards on one charge but the battery is pretty much finished by then. I have two more 5Ah batteries so I switch them around. During leaf falling season (right now for our avocado trees) I'm blowing just about every day.

The portable is not as powerful as my electric but it gets the job done. The big thing is that I tend to use it more. Having to get out a long extension, lay it out, and pick it up after tends to discourage me from doing it every day.

It has a trigger lock that's interesting. With the trigger you can control the speed of the fan, and with the lock, you can lock it at any speed. While that's interesting, I always use it at full speed.

Anyway, it does the job and I'm happy with it - just wish it blew harder.

Mike