I decided the time/technology is right to go electric.
Was doing some deep research until I found this deal on a competent (but not the best) mower that made it an easy decision
Being over 60, living in hot, humid Georgia and with a steep front yard I decided to go with a self-propelled mower.
Most of the neighbors have riding mowers, but we are generally talking less than 1/2 acre of grass and I don't see the point ... and I've always preferred to be accomplishing something when I exercise as opposed to exercise for the sake of exercise (I know, it is a character flaw; personal fitness is clearly a worthwhile accomplishment in its own right!).
In any case, Mower was normally $600, discounted at my local store to $417 (not sure why as the on-line discounted price is $429), and I signed up for a Lowe's credit card (20% discount for initial purchase) to get the price down to $333!
A few features that make this a good option (but certainly not unique to this model only) are:
1) Adaptive motor speed - If the grass gets denser, the blade speed increases
2) 6 Amp-hr 80V battery is rated for 60 minutes (I estimate about 30 minutes required for my lawn). It should be a few years before the battery weakens enough for me to need a second battery.
3) The blade does not need to be engaged to propel the mower - this is nice because I have to go down a steep section of driveway before I get to the grass. If the mower is off and freewheeling it tends to lift up the front wheels going down the hill as I am holding it back by the handle, and it is difficult to push a mower up a steep hill at the handle without lifting the rear wheels up (unless you deliberately push the handle down so the front wheels are in the air before pushing it up the hill). However, if it is being driven at the rear wheels, all I have to do is control the direction!
4) Battery charger has built-in fan to cool the battery as it charges.
5) Thumb lever to set drive speed.
6) Since there are no fluids (gas or oil) to leak out, it is designed for the deck to stand upright (flat against the wall) to minimize storage space required.
And, of course a major benefit of going electric is the noise level is lower by 10 to 15dB from a quiet gas mower which means I can enjoy listening to music via earbuds while mowing!
I might end up getting the Amazon Echo Ear buds which use Bose noise cancellation to really get the noise level down, but I'll see how it goes with plain earbuds first!
But the real thrill is not having to yank the cord repeatedly, run the gas out or add gas stabilizer to "winterize" the engine, or worry about fouled spark plugs, air filter, or mixing oil!
