Bosch Electric Leaf Blower and Vacuum Universal Garden Tidy 2300 (2000 W, collection bag 45 l, 3-in-1 function , low noise level of 99 dB (A))

You have a choice of two types of garden vac/mulcher/blower. The first has two permanently connected tubes one for suck one for blow and generally come with small wheels to rest on the lawn/path; the second has two tubes but they need to be swopped to change from suck to blow. If you are expecting to rapidly clear a large area of leaves neither of these are not time efficient; far better to rake into a pile and then vac. The main use is for clearing debris from flower beds and where leaves have collected in nooks and crannies or against walls. The twin tube models are better if you wish to quickly change from blow to suck but that is all!! When it comes to clearing flower beds or nooks and crannies with the vacuum tube, the blow tube and wheels get in the way and add to the weight. As to the difference in how they work; on vacuum the twin tube models spin the debris around the impeller and case and then out, the other sucks it into the front of the impeller and then spins it out. Does it matter? Yes, spinning around the impeller causes more blockages! How do I find this particular model of blower/vac? Brilliant. I am 5feet 10 inches and 70+ years old. For me,the balance with or without the suspension strap is perfect, it blows well as they all seem to do and it vacuums really well, in fact sometimes too well (who bothers turning the power down just pull it further away) meaning gravel and dog poo sometimes get sucked up. The only downside is it takes me two minutes to change from blow tube to suck tube but that can be annoying.

Bit fiddly to assemble vacuum version. However, it worked well. Tried to register it for 3 year warrenty. Needed product number and serial number. This info is not clearly presented on the information label on machine. Spent 3 hours trying to register it on website. No luck until I downloaded the Bosch DIY app and used to scan QR code on the body of the Blower/vacuum. The worked fine and after uploading a copy of my invoice I got the 3 year warrenty

This sturdy blower/sucker has one huge advantage over all of the others that I have ever used - about 10 of them, probably. All of the ones I have used in the past have an Achilles heel - the flap that changes over from blowing to sucking. These are inevitably the first item to break, being plastic and vulnerable to becoming stiff. This unit features a completely different design, as you take the whole 'suction' assembly off to change it to a blower, and fit a different assembly. This does mean it takes longer to changeover than with the cheaper models, but as I use the unit on 'suction' for 98% of the time, for me this is not really an issue. It also affords access to the complete fan assembly for cleaning - not just the blade edges, as is more common. I think Bosch have got it right with this one - full marks!

Bosch Universal garden tidy 2300, item no. ending 72. I purchased this to remove leaves, buds and small stalks from paving and broken slate of approximately 1- 4 inches in size. This is the less powerful of the 2 newest garden vac/ blowers( the other being the 3000). I was concerned that the lower powered vac would lack power and almost purchased the more powerful item. I chose wisely as using the variable speed control I use it on minimum for vac duties even for thicker, leathery leaves otherwise thinner pieces of broken skate and small pebbles will be drawn into the vac. The vac is quite easy to put together although the assembly instructions aren’t the best. A shoulder strap with soft pad is included and is needed as the vac is quite heavy but after a bit of practice it becomes easier to manoeuvre. There are two different nozzles supplied; the larger diameter one for vaccing and the smaller bore one for leaf blowing. There is a very solid cast cutting wheel inside which shreds leaves and small twigs and allows far more capacity in the bag. Also, It took me a few minutes to find the ideal gap to leave between the nozzle and the ground to vac up the leaves but leave the stones behind( a few small ones did go up but didn’t seem to damage the solid impeller/ cutter) the shreddings are great as mulch or composting. The vac is reasonably quiet in use similar to an electric mower. I haven’t used the blower as I just needed the vac function to remove the copious amount of leaves that my neighbours trees generously share ! I am very pleased with this blower which easily does what I required.

PROS: So the pro's for this item are simple, very good suction (almost too good) and a good quality hard wearing collection bag. CONS: Before I begin let me say I am a big Bosch fan, having had fridges, dishwashers, washing machines and always stuck to the same brand however I am very disappointed with this device. Firstly, the cannot deal with twigs. The shredder is a very poor mechanism that just doesn't cope with anything but leaves. It also gets clogged with mud as it has a habit of sucking up soil which collects around the shredder and adds to the blockage problems. It would be so bad if it was easy to unclog, but sadly to do this you have to dismantle the device. This involves a tuning a knob about 50 (no exaggeration, I have counted!) times before it will release the shredder section from main 'tube'. It's very time consuming and sadly, because it's so prone to blockages, you have to do it frequently. Not only that but if you want to convert it to a blower, you have to once again, turn that knob 50 times! With my old Electrolux garden vacuum it was a simple as flicking a switch?! There's no blow and suck function either (like there was on my old Electrolux) which means using your hands a lot to dislodge leaves that are jammed in places. Finally, the on/off switch is very stiff, not sure if it's like this on all models, but it can be quite hard to turn on if you have weak wrists. Overall, I'm not pleased with it and wish I had gone for another make, my biggest issue being the poor shredder and the stupid knob that you have to turn until your wrist is sore! I never thought I'd say that about a Bosch product.