Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off.. I've been using different vacuum sealers for decades - the 'clamshell' type and this is my first automatic type. I mainly use the sealer for freezing meat and for sealing cheese. When I buy meat, I get the large cryopaks. My first use of this FoodSaver was that I purchased a chunk of Boneless Ribeye weighing almost 20 pounds and cut my own steaks for less than 6 dollars a pound (local grocery store was 22 dollars a pound and thin steaks) and I got a 5 pound brick of sharp cheddar cheese which I cut down to 1 pound blocks. I always buy my meat and cheese in these quantities. PROS: --It's a vacuum sealer --Works well with bags from other manufacturers. (purchased two 50foot rolls) --Didn't have any problems sealing properly and only a couple times had problems with it vacuuming (was able to stop it -hit power button- before it sealed) --Has the handheld vacuum port. My most favorite feature. Works great with ziplock type vacuum bags. (prior had to dig through drawer to find the battery operated vac pump - half the time batteries had died) I eat a lot of cheddar cheese and use the ziplock type bags and put block of cheese back in and vacuum before putting back in fridge. No more 'hard spots' on cheese - cheddar cheese hates air --Automatic.. Just put bag in slot and wait for it to grab. My old 'clam shell' one, had to make sure vacuum port in bag then close cover and hope port still in bag. CONS: --Wastes a LOT of the bag. Especially if item in bag is thick you need to have a lot of 'tail' so it will go into slot evenly -No way to double seal bag --Slow.. takes a long time for it to suck out the air and sealing takes a long time also.. Fine for occasional use but if doing large batches, gets annoying fast (much slower than the clamshell one this replaces) -Sealing element seems to overheat and shut down unit only after 3 seals (light flashes). Used to make a bunch of bags with my clamshell sealer then fill the bags, and then vacuum seal them. Work around - make two bags - fill one - vacuum seal it - make a third bag - fill second bag - continue. This way you are only using the sealer two times in a row and it gets to cool down as you’re filling a bag and vacuuming it. --Handheld vacuum - though this is my favorite feature of this model, it has a valve in it (you can see a white plunger through the clear part) As your vacuuming something this valve will close and most of the time you won't realize it. So for me.. I'm vacuuming a bag waiting for it to suck more air out but the valve had closed and I had not realized it. So I'm standing there like an idiot wondering when it will finish. The only way to get this valve back open is to turn off the machine and sometimes have to tap on the attachment to get the plunger to drop back down. OVERALL: I'm happy with this model. After using the clamshell type for decades I do like the automatic feature of this and now the sealer sits on my counter instead of in a cupboard, so it gets used more. My biggest issues are that it is much slower than my old clamshell one and it overheats much faster than the one this replaced, but for occasional use it is fine - just when doing large batches when it is an issue. Also, it wastes so much of the 'bags' - I purchased two 50 foot rolls at a very reasonable price and they worked great without the cost of FoodSaver rolls. Only drawback is that they don't fit into the bag roll holder/cutter but for the price difference it is a drawback I can live with happily. Love the handheld attachment (gets used almost daily) but the valve in it is annoying, so if you are using the handheld part and wondering why it doesn't seem to be doing its job - just check that the plunger valve is open. I purchased this a couple days before I went meat shopping. I had even kept the box it came in (which I never do.. but know I always should) so I could return it if it wasn't up to snuff. Ends up that I'm keeping this. Even though it's much slower than my much cheaper clamshell sealer and it wastes a lot of bags, the handheld portion is the selling point for me. Perfect/Great/Exceptional... NO Very Good/Get much more use out of it.. YES