I think it depends upon how much area you have to clear with a weed eater. My land right now I believe is about 1/4 acre. I have owned 2 1/2 acres in Mt. Shasta but that was the 1980s when I home schooled my older kids there at 4000 feet on the side of Mt. Shasta while living in an A-Frame I built with my ex-wife and older kids and my father and mother and some friends from the area.
However, now today, I usually prefer to buy an Electric Weed Eater for use around this time of year when weeds often will get 4 feet high (higher some years) before they turn brown and are a fire hazard here in California. There was almost not rain here for about a year and then we got some real downpours in March and April and possibly one in May. But, we are still in a drought and everything is starting to turn brown already so needs to be knocked down. So, I now choose a Black and Decker Electric Weed Eater. People sometimes laugh and say, "Why don't you get a Gas one?" My response is: "If you get a gas one then you have to deal with the smell, the mess, always getting it repaired etc. Also, they are not cheap and they are also usually heavier to carry than an electric one.
However, if you go electric because you can do it with under 200 feet of cords around your home there are some things to think about. First of all it has to be heavy duty enough not to burn up on the first day you are going to use it.
2nd you have to clean the air vents as you are using it from debris so the electric motor can cool down enough not to burn up and be gone.
3rd. You need to get rolling spools for your 100 foot or 50 foot (usually orange or black colored in the U.S.) outside electrical extension cords or you will be all day untangling them each time you use them. (I have one 100 foot spool and one 50 foot spool). Just today I combined them to do the parking area in front of my house next to the street where cars can park.
So, Weed Eaters are great but you have to know what you are doing.
If you are coordinated and won't maim yourself here is what I do. I have used power tools and heavy equipment since I was a child and was trained by my father to do all this so I'm pretty coordinated so don't try this unless you are handy.
What I do is I defeat all the safety mechanisms on a weed eater and take off all the protective stuff and then I adjust the spinner to go vertical. This protects the engine from burning up because you are only taking out a line of weeds vertically which is less of a strain on the motor. However, it can also throw rocks and spurs and thorns too so be sure to wear protective glasses when you are doing this.
Also, the one I have now is pretty loud even for an electric because it has a bigger motor. But, as long as you clean out the air vents so it can breathe and don't use it on really hot days you should be fine.
But, with your weed eater tricked out like this it is much easier to injure yourself with it too. So, I adjust the weed eater out to be as far away from my body as possible when I use it in this way. Also, I swing it to cut wide swaths of weeds since it is only spinning vertically the width of the fishing line.
So, if you use my method make sure you are wearing long pants and boots or shoes because otherwise it is too easy to cut your legs or feet with the line as it spins. Also wear protective glasses to keep rocks and pieces of weeds out of your eyes. Also, a face mask is useful to keep pollen and other allergic types of weed stuff out of your nose, throat, and lungs. Also, I like to use with mine because it is loud a set of ear protectors whatever kind you like from ear plugs to ear phones to whatever you choose.
Weed eating is important especially in western states to prevent fires from consuming your home if they come from now on.
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