Ozito BLV-2402

Demand your Australian Consumer Law Guarantee rights – While the machine itself is reasonable for the price the vacuum bags only last for a few uses and are not what a reasonable person would consider of merchantable quality and fit for purpose. Every one should be taking the machines back and demanding new bags or a complete refund of every purchase until they either no longer offer the product or upgrade the quality of the bags. Don't be fooled by the unlawful claim that there is no warranty on the bags. The bags must still meet the expectations of a reasonable person. These bags clearly do not. If bunnings refuses to honour the Australian Consumer Law Guarantee email them with the name of the employee who refused and copy in the ACCC. It is also unlawful to mislead a person about their rights under Australian Consumer Law.

Disappointed with its performance – Checked reviews before purchasing this blower/vacuum hoping that with steel mulcher it would be better. While assembly and parts seemed quite good its vacuuming performance was almost useless and while blower function was quite reasonable it was inferior to our Stihl Blower. It was quite a heavy unit and too heavy for my wife to operate for long. It also seemed to hold leaves in tube rather than mulch them as easily as expected. We had a very old blower/vacuum which did far better but plastic developed holes and bag wore out - expected new models would be an improvment but sadly not so. Resigned to using rake in future.

Was expecting a bit more, but not bad for a cheapy – The good - Easy assembly, and ok to switch from blower to suction function. I like the adjustable handle and shoulder strap, it makes it easier to operate when the bag starts filling up. The bad - no variable speed, stuck on flat out all the time, noise on blower function was measured at 99db and max noise on suction was 115db due to metal blade. Can't do small precise blowing with no variable speed. Bag is very thin but it has warranty.

At last - A Vac Mulcher that does Big Leaves! – I've had quite a few garden Vac/Mulcher's but none of them have been fit for purpose until this unit. The most expensive was a Flymo and the cheapest (and worst) an Aldi special. This Ozito BLV-2402 was $99 with a 3 year warranty and has some excellent and unusual features including a metal fan blade with an easy access clear side cover to clean it, A double wall bag with a fine dust filter inner, Big smooth bore suction inlet tube and a decent shoulder strap. The really big feature is it sucks and mulches large leaves quickly and without clogging which no other unit I've tried could do in practice. It is noisy enough to require hearing protection but not as loud as most I've tried while not particularly heavy and does the job efficiently. It's the first one I've tried that works well enough that it's not a complete misery to use. Assembly requires some force to connect the tube to the motor but is otherwise unremarkable and straightforward. I am not too worried about the durability as a Bunnings 3 year warranty means easy replacement if it dies so long as I have the receipt. The mulching reduction ratio is not always 10/1 but seems much better than the other plastic bladed units I've tried, it's certainly a big reduction. If you are dealing with large leaves leave the Patio Extension off as it will clog instantly but otherwise does a decent job with sand and dirt. It works as a blower but it is not it's main use - more to manoeuvre the leaves into a pile so they can be more easily sucked up. Overall this is the first Vac/Mulcher that I can recommend without reservation, for $99 it is good value and not aggravating to use. It does not clog in normal use and does a decent job of keeping the dust under control while picking up large leaves at a rapid rate. I would highly recommend this if you are looking for a mains Garden Blower/Vac with Mulching, it does what it says on the box.