I've had a variety of weed eaters and electric is by far the easiest and quietest to operate. If you want to save money and don't mind a cord, that would be the lightest. I had a Ryobi that lasted 20 years. I still might have it, I don't remember throwing it away, but haven't seen it in quite awhile. All the gas models are a pain in the butt, especially after sitting all winter!!! I'm now using a Makita cordless and I really like it a lot. It takes two batteries, so there is some weight to it. I can do my entire yard on just those two batteries. So far, I have never ran out of power or needed to change batteries while using it.