Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this at a local Asian store for just under $100 and originally I thought is this worth the price? This is my first computerized rice cooker (I used a plain rice cooker before). Now after several months, the answer is definitely YES. It does a lot more things than rice cooking. In fact, I used it for other purposes more times than rice cooking: 1. It does a nice job of slow cooking. The best thing is that it has a timer control: let you specify when to start the cooking, and how long it lasts. This is very important since many cheap slow cooker does not have both features. I routinely cook beef/pork soup in the rice cooker overnight, and the next morning it is done perfectly. 2. It does porridge! I love porridge but it is messy to cook. In my old plain rice cooker, water/rice is often spilled all over the place, which is a messy thing to clean. Now this cooker has specific selection to do this and works perfectly. No spills and perfectly done. 3. Non-stick inner surface. It is very easy to clean and the costing seems to be very sturdy too (should last a long time). 4. Did I forget to say rice cooking? It does this perfectly, better than the plain (cheap) rice cooker. 4. Overall it is easy to clean inside and outside. The top has a removable aluminum plate and it proves it helps cleaning greatly. 5. Easy to use. I have used rice cooker before, and this one needs little time reading manual and it is under control. 6. It is cheaper than comparable models from Panasonic, Zojirushi. Often 10-20% cheaper. And I found no reason other models should charge more (except brand name)! However, I do have a couple grunts: 1. When I do slow cook or porridge, if I put too much water (close to 5.5 cup edge), it can spill depending on what I cook. So safest is never put over water over 5-cup line. 2. The steaming tray I found on 5.5 cup model is too small, only good for small items. And since it uses all spaces INSIDE the cooker, it can reduce usable space in cooker when you do steaming. So if you do steaming a lot, better choose a 10 cup model which I believe give you more room.