The Black and Decker blower vac was a complete and utter waste of money.

Initially it was quite promising - the suction is reasonably powerful. However the product is made mostly from cheap plastic and this causes two serious problems:

1) Any stones in the garden or around paths cause the plastic at the top of the nozzle to crack and chip as they are sucked up. This causes a massive reduction in suction.

2) The bag clip quite quickly becomes loose so the bag flies off unless you hold it all the time.

I am not sure if other manufacturers' blowers suffer the same issues but I will be examining my next purchase closely to ensure it is far more robust.

I have a large garden and I bought this to replace my 10 year old McCulloch Petrol Vac/Blower which had given up the ghost. Reviewers who have complained about the weight and noise of the GW2600 clearly haven't used a petrol engine model. The B&D isn't as noisy as the McCulloch and is nowhere near as heavy. I hardly need to use the shoulder strap whereas that was essential with the McCulloch. The GW2600 is also just as effective as the McCulloch in both suction and blow. The only drawback of course is having an electric cable, but it's not that inconvenient. Whether the bag clip will stand the test of time remains to be seen but, like most equipment, treat it kindly and it should last. Overall I'm pretty impressed with the GW2600. It's good value at the price.

I bought the black and decker gw2600 to replace my 10 year old Flymo Garden Vac which has developed a high pitched whine on the motor.

The tube for the vacuum part was awkward to assemble, but after administering the recommended soapy water I finally got the two parts together. The tube for the blower was no trouble to put together.

Well it was a nice day today so I trimmed the hedge and started to vacuum up the leaves and small twigs left on the drive.
All went well until after I had emptied the bag 4 times. The catch holding the bag in place seemed to lose its initial springiness and the contents of the bag were flying out of the gap that had developed at the point where the bag meets the clamshell. I think it will be going back to Argos soon.

This Black and Decker GW2600 Blower Vac is a pretty good vacuum/leaf blower all in all. Its a little heavy but I think they all are. Its also quite noisy so you wouldn't want to be doing it early on a Sunday morning if you have neighbours who like a lay in!

One thing though that could be better is the power switch - currently its either 1 or 2 - however, it woud be much better if it just had a variable dial so you could turn the power up or down.

In part of our garden we have granite chippings which on level 1 any leaves that are slightly damp wont pick up well on this setting, but on levle 2 you hear this unnerving 'clunk clunk clunk' as the granite chippings are passed through the shredder - Id imagine that's not great for the blades.

Apart from that though it definitely does the job - its perfect on the patio when the leaves are dry.

The suction tube was a little awkward to assemble - the tip about soapy water in the instruction booklet made things easier. Once put together, the Black and Decker GW2600 Blower Vac looks the business. My stupid idea to switch it on in the kitchen amply demonstrated its huge blowing power by knocking a pot plant off the window-sill and rearranging my wife's hairdo. The noise, when switched to setting 2 on blower mode, is pretty painful, even outdoors.

At first, all went well. It moves all but the most stubborn wet/frosty leaves where you want them (i.e. off borders into handy piles ready for sucking up). I've no issues with this part of the GW2600's functions - A darned fine leaf blower, provided you wear ear-plugs when using on max power.

The unintended fun begins when you attach the suction tube and bag. Firstly you need to judge the fullness of the bag by its weight, before it drops off! (No warning light ). The bag slides into a channel and is supposed to be held by a plastic catch at the back. It WAS held for the first two uses, but on the third occasion I was showered with mulched leaves escaping through a gap along the rear edge of the bag. The flimsy plastic had become creased, white and pulled out of shape, rendering the catch useless - After THREE uses. This item comes with a two-year guarantee!
I needed to finish the job, so I pushed a small cube of wood into the catch to brace it. I shouldn't have to be doing this after one month of ownership.
Then the shoulder strap came apart, the clip went AWOL, but I cobbled something together.
The annoying thing is, this could be a winner,B&D, if you'd not skimped on such little details.
I'll even bet that, like my indestructible old B&W drill, the motor in the GW2600 would go on forever, if only the rest hadn't fallen off long before.