IMO where they really excel is getting grass clippings and detritus out of flower beds and off gravel, places where a broom or rake don't work at all. And once

IMO where they really excel is getting grass clippings and detritus out of flower beds and off gravel, places where a broom or rake don't work at all. And once you're using a blower for that, you may as well use it for the leaves too. FWIW I never had much luck with a blower when I was in the north east outside Boston, we had masses of leaves across 2/3 acre in the Fall. I used a rake.