Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

EDIT: 07/10/2014 - been ages since I bought this, and the other day I used it again and it was still working great! I'm not sure where I put the slicer though, but for anyone who owns a cuisinart and got the 2mm slicer disc, that'd be PERFECT and so amazingly fast. I only got the 4mm slicer disc - the chips came out kinda hard due to the thickness but still pretty yummy and i ate it with home made guac. It was SO GOOD. For those who are annoyed at how long it takes to microwave - take your tablet or phone (or whatever) and watch shows and read fb on it (or nab your SO or buddy or kid and have a chat lol). That should make time go by faster, and yay multi tasking! For anyone who had problems where some chips are still soggy while others are already burning - go in increments of 2 min at a time, then 1 min until it's done. In between each set, open it up and check on status - take out the chips that looks like they're done and continue with the soggy ones. That way nothing gets burnt. Alternatively try to fit approx equal sized (size and thickness) slices on the same plate. I highly recommend getting a pair of silicon tipped tongs so that you can take chips or even the whole rubber plate out without burning yourself. For anyone who got access to SF Japantown, the Ichibankan in there sells Seria brand (Japanese 100 yen brand) silicon tipped ones for only like $1.75 (a bit more than 100 yen, prob 'cause of shipping and customs tax). --- After reading up some reviews, and considering the cheap price, I went ahead and bought this for myself. Please note that I live alone so I won't be making chips for other people in my household too. That's important, because this gadget, unfortunately, is not made for mass production of chips! The slicer that comes with it works really well with potato and firm apples, but for softer apples the slices came out a little thin. not unworkable, but the apple crisps that resulted had a paper like texture after microwaving. tasted great though, just not what i was expecting from apple crisps. Doesn't work quite as well with harder roots such as red or white sweet potato. i had trouble slicing due to the blade getting stuck in the middle of a slice. HOWEVER, it worked well if i sorta swivel the sweet potato in my hand so that it slices through, as opposed to doing a single swipe. i don't own any other slicers so i can't compare, but personally i think it's great that it's included in the set. now i don't have to buy one myself :D The pan thingy is made of rubber with holes. Feels rather sturdy though (though sorta squishy) so i don't feel like it's going to break or warp or die on me anytime soon. I washed it and the slicing kit, sliced my potato. patted dry on paper towel as direct, and went ahead and salted and peppered it prior to microwaving. I read someone else who reviewed here did that, and I agree that it comes out much better. once it's microwaved, the salt and pepper won't stick anyway! I have a standard sized microwave, not one of the small ones, so the rubber plate fits perfectly. i guess my microwave's power is weak (and I can't seem to figure out how to up it), because it takes a full 5 minutes for my potato to be done. Remember to microwave it until the chips start to turn a little orange/brown (though not completely brown). That's when you know it's done. If it's still pale yellow, even though it's cooked, it won't really be crispy. the taste is DIVINE. so much better than store bought! I think i put too much salt and pepper in my test batch, next time i'm putting either less salt or no salt to taste the true flavor of potatoes. when i did the apple crisp and the white and red sweet potatoes, i cooked them plain and there's that underlying flavor that tend to get totally destroyed by artificially added flavors of store bought product. Having tried this, I feel like I've actually started to appreciate the FOOD and not just whatever was added to it! CON: The plate isn't small but considering the slices of potatoes are round, you really can't fit a ton of the slices on the plate (since you can't overlap them). This is perfectly fine, i think, if you're just making it for yourself, but if you're making it for two or more people, you might end up standing near the microwave for a long time! It could take a good amount of time to just do one or two medium to large sized potatoes due to not being able to fit a lot of slices on the plate, and having to wait the 3-5 min for it to cook. even slicing, patting dry, and salting & peppering the next batch doesn't take quite as long. if you're doing this alone, i suggest bringing a book, or better yet, cook something else while you're at it to get all your cooking done at once. otherwise, have someone around to chat with, or it'll get boring lol. the plate gets really hot as you microwave more and more batches. sometimes i wonder how safe that thing is? also be careful taking the chips off, or taking the plate in or out of the microwave, or you may burn yourself on the microwave or on the plate itself. works well if you have long nails tho (use your nails to hold the plate LOL) i wish the set came with two plates instead of one, as i think having multiple plates will make the process a lot faster. it's so cheap though, that i may consider buying the 2 pack pans by itself. overall a great product, and perfect for someone who like chips but trying to avoid eating the fatty oily processed food.