Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I just got this cooker today, so durability is not something I can rate yet. These are the things I like; 1. No plastic. This was important for me. Both the bottom rice cooker and the steamer tray are metal. The lid is glass. 2. Nice and compact. I cook for my wife and myself, so I don't something huge, and of course storage space is always limited. The steamer tray is small; on the other hand, the manual claims that this can cook up to 5 cups of rice. 3. Easy cleanup. Yes some of the rice made a gooey mess in the bottom, but a little soaking took it all right out. 4. Inexpensive. 5. Multi-purpose. I have used it once so far, and here's what I did. I put some brown rice in the bottom rice cooker, and some salmon, broccoli and cauliflower in the steamer tray. The manual says nothing about steaming anything other than veggies, but I thought I'd try it. The result: Excellent. The salmon was cooked to perfection, and so were the vegetables. So I had a complete, tasty, and healthy meal, all in one cooker, and so long as I was prepared to let the bowl and the tray soak for a bit, cleanup was a breeze. Oh and you can make soups, stews, etc. instead of cooking rice. It's not a large-capacity cooker but it would make plenty of stew for two people. Things I don't like: 1. No timer. It apparently senses when the steam is gone, and then switches to "warmer" mode automatically. The only control is a switch that goes from "cook" to "warmer." This also means that you have to unplug it to turn it off, though that doesn't bother me. That's about the only thing I have to carp about so far. It didn't bubble or spit at all. If I can get at least three or four years of regular (and by regular I mean nearly daily) use out of this thing, I'll consider it an extremely good value. Update June 2010: OK sometimes it does bubble and spit a bit. Nothing terrible. I've used it probably 25 times altogether without any problems. Considering the low purchase price, I'd call this thing a good value. I'd buy it again. UPDATE: Three years later, it's still going strong. The steamer pan has become discolored and strange looking--blotchy is the word--but it still works great. It has never failed to cook rice perfectly. ANOTHER UPDATE: Make that six years. I believe this thing will last longer than I will. In fact, it may be an advance agent of SkyNet, biding its time for the beginning of the robot war to destroy all humans!