BoschElectric Leaf Blower and Vacuum UniversalGardenTidy 3000 (3000 W, collection bag 50 l,variable speed,for blowing, vacuuming shredding leaves, Weight: 4.7 kg, in carton packaging)

The media could not be loaded. This is a purchase that will be kept at my folks and ill be using it in the garden and on the drive for them, they have a tonne of seeds, leaves and all sorts of garden debris which annually cascades from the air onto the floor so requires a twice yearly clean up. I picked the Bosch product over a multitude of alternates based on what seem to be genuine reviews, it is dual function, it looks well built in the product pictures unlike some of the competitors, it has a variable speed and of course because its Bosch and i have never been let down by any Bosch products in the past.The Good* The unit comes in a fairly small box, to unpack, read the instructions and put together took me in total less than ten minutes. First impressions are that it is well built, the plastic is sturdy, i would imagine it would survive several drops to the floor, lots of scuffing, dust and rubbish with no issues. I did look at alternates and i wasn't confident in the build quality, this feels very robust.The bag that comes with the unit is similar to Cordura, not quite as thick but again having read reviews of other products bags seem to be a common failing point so this is important to me.* As said putting together is very simple and took less than ten minutes to figure out. There are two setups, one for Vac one for Blow. The switch between the two is made by unscrewing a reasonable sized nut on the bottom of the unit, its easy to grip and takes less than 30 seconds, swapping the tubes and refitting. Very simple.* The cable is another plus, i always wonder with wired garden equipment how likely is the wire to become punctured or torn into by a branch or becoming stuck on brick or concrete. In this instance not likely at all, i wouldn't want to make a ropes swing out of it but its built to last!* Whilst it is certainly robust it doesn't feel overly heavy as i had feared, i used it initially for two hours and didn't feel fatigued, it comes with a well padded shoulder strap which i used for vacuum however i didn't feel the need to use when blowing, the attachment for blowing is much lighter.* Switch on is super simple, there is one nob to control and it works very much the same as a light dimmer switch, you turn it on and it is already at the lowest setting, to increase the power you simply continue to turn till you reach the desired setting.* Noise level is commensurate to the power setting, at low power i found it to be very quiet, i did think i would need ear defenders but that wasn't the case, its a lot like using a slightly high powered standard house vac outside. Its not going to overly disturb the neighborhood!* I was initially a little concerned about the power, it appears to have a less powerful motor than some competing products, i needn't have worried. My first job was to clear a half built driveway of tree debris which was mixed among rocks, gravel and hardcore. You can see on the video that even on low setting it briskly moves along anything loose, when you ramp up the power it almost sends tennis ball lumps of concrete into the air, it is powerful!I would say based on the power that if you are going to vac leaves and debris then you may well be better off blowing into a pile to start if the ground beneath has many small stones or loose material so as not to suck everything up.* As you can see from the before and after pictures it did a very decent job of getting general debris up off the floor so we can start to build the drive way again, oh joy!I would caution that it will pick up small stones if you are not careful, i actually sucked up a rubble sack which quickly clogged the machine. I simply switch off as soon as it entered, unplugged the unit, removed the vac attachment as i would if changing to blow and removed it, it had become a little shredded but no damage was done to the unit as per pictures.Unlike a lot of competitors this has a robust steel shredder/fan inside. It is thick steel and i doubt it will break easily, the stones that i did mistakenly pick up simply went through and into the bag very quickly.* The collection bag is very good, easy to clip to the unit, tough and durable material, empties using a zip very easily into the bin.* I have included a couple of before and after pictures of the jobs undertaken straight out of the box.The could be better -* A minor one but both the vacuum and the blowing attachment would i feel benefit from having a narrower attachment to go onto the end so as to focus the suction or the blowing. Its a minor quibble, it certainly isnt the widest aperture and i dont imagine ill be losing a foot into it anytime soon but if i had one thing to say could improve this that would be it.Overall i expect this will last a good few years, my current Bosch lawn mower is over six years old, i have had Bosch power tools and also hand tools, all are reliable and well built, this comes with an extended three year warranty so if you do pick one up be sure to register it with the Bosch main website.For blowing and sucking up leaves and general debris this is a very good purchase, its easy to assemble, easy to operate, not overly heavy and certainly not cumbersome. The variable power is a bonus, the noise level can be kept relatively low, it has a 3 year guarantee and its very green in colour, who wants to wander around the garden with a huge piece of orange plastic strapped to their torso!Highly recommended.Five Stars.

Over the years, I’ve relied on a broom to sweep up the leaves on our driveway, a task I’ve never enjoyed. Living between two neighbours with large trees that shed endlessly through October and November, it always felt like a losing battle. This year, I finally decided to invest in the Bosch Electric Leaf Blower and Vacuum, and honestly, it’s the best decision I’ve made for my outdoor maintenance routine.The setup, however, was a bit of a challenge. Assembling the vacuum pipes was tricky, stubborn to fit together, and I accidentally put one the wrong way around, which prevented me from attaching the collection bag. This led to a mini meltdown as I wrestled to detach and reassemble the pipes. Thankfully, I got it sorted out in the end, but I’d strongly recommend watching an online video guide to make the process smoother.Once assembled, the unit’s power was impressive. It’s quite heavy, but the included shoulder strap helps distribute the weight, making it manageable. The vacuum function made short work of the thick layer of leaves on my driveway, shredding them efficiently into the large 50-litre collection bag. I was amazed by how much it could hold before needing to be emptied, saving me time and effort.A few days later, when a fresh layer of leaves had settled, I switched to the blower function. Attaching the blower was quick and easy, and it proved highly effective at moving the leaves away from the house. The variable speed control was a nice touch, letting me adjust the power to suit the job.Overall, the Bosch UniversalGardenTidy 3000 is a great product. It’s powerful, efficient, and versatile, handling both blowing and vacuuming with ease. That said, the weight of the unit might not suit everyone, and the initial setup can be frustrating. But for anyone tired of manual leaf clearing, this tool is a fantastic investment.

I like to stick to a known brand, more expensive, but generally you get what you pay for. It was fiddly to put together but once done, it's robust. I've only used it as a vacuum so far, but it's effective. The suction is variable by simply turning a knob. It effectively picked up from the lawn, beds and patio. The shoulder strap is useful as it is a little heavy. The metal blade easily ground down the material and turned it into very small pieces. As a result, the compost bin can hold lots more material. I've had no clogging of the mechanism so far. The zip on the collection bag makes it nice and easy to empty. Registering for the warranty on-line was quick and easy. So far, so good.

This is, simply, the best leaf vacuum I’ve had (based on 4 previous brands). I had the Challenge one which was great also but no longer in production.The Von Haus one was OK (less expensive which makes it a good buy for light work imo). I also had the Einhell one which is garbage (spent more time unblocking it due to its pathetically small aperture!This one is super-powerful - dealing with compressed bundles of wet leaves with ease.It great to handle - not heavy and glides along the gravel etc.The variable speed means it can be set to not pick up stones etc.I sucked up some polythene by mistake but the metal blades shredded that too so no need to unblock.Another fantastic design element of this unit is that, should you need to unblock, it’s just a matter of unscrewing a big plastic nut that then allows you to remove the nozzle in one easy action to get right to the blades - no need to have a screwdriver in your pocket like the Einhell disaster!I haven’t used for blowing as I have a battery Dewalt unit for that but it’s a simple job (like the unblocking explained above) to switch the nozzle and fan.All in all, a world class unit.