Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I set the timer in the morning and the rice is ready when I come home from work. When I walk in the door, my apartment smells of cooked rice, -- which is surprisingly pleasant. The timer is a must especially for brown rice which takes one hour and 40 minutes to cook. If I come home late, the rice is still okay since it automatically goes into a keep warm mode when the cycle is completed. It has a "mixed rice" mode which actually means cooking chicken, fish and tofu with the rice (not tried it yet). The only con is that the direction are terrible. It must have been poorly translated from Japanese. I'm not subtracting a star for this issue because it's so simple to operate once you know what to do. The cooking bowl has water level gradations etched into the side-- there are several depending upon the setting (brown, white, etc.) You put the dry rice into the bowl using the supplied measuring and add water until the level reaches the line for the rice you are cooking (brown rice is from .5 cup to 2 cups, white rice is from 1 to 3 cups, etc.) That is not exactly what the directions say (e.g., "level scales according to the menu you have chosen and then flatten the surface of the rice." What? Anyway, I comes out perfect and steamy hot. A special nubby rice spatula is included. Also, it makes great oatmeal, even the steel cut type that normally takes 30 minutes to cook. Use the "porridge" setting. Use about half as much water as recommended on the oatmeal box. It has two timers that remember the last time used and the cooking setting. I have one timer set for porridge in the morning and the other for brown rice in the evening. It has a small footprint on my counter - about the size of a toater. The cord has a retraction mechanism (like a vacuum cleaner) which means here is no excess cord on the counter. There is a large handle, much like you would see on a small cooler, making it easy to put pick up and put away when not in use.