I am after a bit of advice. I have the floorboards in one room to sand
down before varnishing. The room is about 4m square. I was going to
hire a Drum Sander but I have heard some bad stories aboout using one.
I was going to use it with an Edge Sander but it has been suggested
that I only use the Edge Sander. 

Is this a reasonable idea

How much easier is it to use the Edge Sander

What would the difference be in finish between the two sanders 

How much longer would it take just using the Edge Sander

Any other comments (apart from the differnece in cost)

If the room is only 2M x 2M then you won't have much room to use an upright 
drum sander, the handles stick out a fair way. If it's that small then an 
edging sander may do it easily enough.

I did a few floors with a drum sander and scrimped on the hire for an edge 
sander using my own belt sander instead, then a hire company would only hire 
me the two together and I found the edger quite a powerful little beasty 
saving a huge amount of time. Being rotary though the finish is not as good 
as the drum sander.

Henry