Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Ok so I'm a professional painter, who is just starting out on his own. I bought one of these because there's just no way around not having a sprayer. I figured this should last a year or two and then if I'm doing well I can always upgrade to a professional grade sprayer. Not that this sprayer isn't great, it's just not rated for pro use. So it turns out that this sprayer is actually really good. It sprays latex real nice and heavy, and then of course 9 times out of 10 you go back and roll over it. There is no need for thinning down paints, I use sherwin williams for almost everything I do, though I have been known to use Conco brand paint from menards on cheap rental jobs where they literally just want you to slap paint down. They will not pay for good paint or even good work so you really just have to give them what they want at a reasonable price, but I digress. The only thing I dislike about this sprayer, is that the hook for the 5 gallon bucket, doesn't hold the bucket all the time. When the sprayer is just sitting flat and the bucket is there the handle on the bucket is too high to sit in the hook and so the bucket just sits on the ground. I imagine this is a design decision so that there isn't constantly 75lbs (or however much a 5 gal bucket of paint weighs) hanging from the sprayer at all times. But it's frustrating because that means any time you want to move you have to bend over and tilt the sprayer back and make sure the hook catches the bucket handle, then tilt it back more to pick up the bucket. It's just a pain. I'd much rather the bucket hung nonstop. Besides that little frustration, as well as the pain it is to clean up afterwards, this sprayer is fantastic. The cleanup isn't an issue with the sprayer either, it's just the normal 'ton' of paint everywhere that you have to clean. Overspray isn't as bad as I thought it would be to be honest. Though it will get anywhere, in the immediate spray area that isn't securely masked. You really have to make sure when you mask that your tape is on really well and that if you have paper or plastic that it isn't loose. This sprayer has some force so it will fling plastic and paper all over the place and rip it right off if the tape job wasn't done well. Besides that I guess the only other thing I would have asked for would have been a 50 foot hose instead of the 25ft that came with it. It's just not enough for exterior projects where you are two stories up on a ladder. I will just have to purchase a 50ft hose later, which isn't a big deal besides it being $50 for the hose. Lol, that's where they get you. As for my experience with this sprayer, I waited until I really put it through it's paces before giving this review. I've painted a few interiors and I'm on my third or fourth exterior with it now. Still with the same tip that came with the sprayer, same hose, etc. I tend to be anal about cleaning it, though you just cannot keep paint off of the hoses. It's just not possible. But cleaning everything as well as a I can I think this sprayer should last another year or so hopefully. I'm guessing I'll need a new tip or gun at some point and I will get the 50 ft hose in the next day or two because I'm painting a huge house right now so I just need it, but I hope this helps somebody.