Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am so glad that some of you really like this thing. I wish I did, but I hate it. For me, the bottom line in any product is does it do it's job well and efficiently. All I can answer is a resounding NO. I have owned one foodsaver for about 15 years. it was one of the earlier models when Tilia was the mfg. company. Through the years I have read reviews on newer foodsavers and have found them less than stellar. Therefore, I held on to what I had until it's last dying breath. Alas, after losing buttons and using a stick to keep a button pushed I caved and bought the latest and greatest v4880. I have to say that I am incredibly disappointed and highly frustrated using this machine. Since you can't see where the end of the bag is going, you lose all control of when the bag starts to vacuum or seal or whatever. Now you have to place it near some sensor that you cannot see...and hope that after at least 5 tries of wiggling the bag that you actually get the thing to sense the bag for whatever function you are trying to do. In the past, I could have easily gotten a minimum of 5 bags vacuumed and sealed by the time this thing does one. Way louder than my old one as well. I also had to keep cutting the edge of the bag in hopes of getting the sensor to sense it better. Sometimes it would seal before a total vacuum. After wiggling the bag to make it sense the thing, I'd wind up w/a crooked seal that definitely ate up more bag space. I have sealed thousands of bags and mason jars w/my old workhouse...so I'm not a newbie in using these things. It is all bells and whistles (looks nice) IMHO without much substance. All I want is a machine I am in control of and works when I ask it to..this one doesn't give either. I'll probably return this and try and find an older one on ebay. ************************* ADDITIONAL INFO UPDATE 12/29/14: since I know many are doing their best to research for a decent food sucker like I was, i wanted to let those that are interested know that i finally found a machine i am happy with! Plus, it is also somewhat automatic: once it starts to suck out the air, you can leave it. and it also does mason jars and canisters. I did research the bigger Weston, but saw that there were issues w/that one too. So after all my research, I settled on the one listed below (but I see it is now unavailable on amazon...yikes! hope it comes back). hmmm I see they now have another version called the 350 so perhaps this 350 is replacing the 305, but I don't know anything about the newer one. most are good reviews. I see a couple of negative, but I've only had good results...and I really am an old timer who has sealed thousands of bags and jars (my dehydrated food goes in those mason jars). I tend to use my foodsaver attachment with this machine tho for the mason jars and other canisters as I think it fits a little better. to remove the suction cap from the mason jar I have to release the hose first as it is major suction. I don't know why a couple reviews said the suction wasn't as good...this is way better than my foodsaver. plus you can see where the bag goes unlike the one here...and you can determine how much you want to seal the bag...thicker bags need an extra second...thinner bags less heat sealing time. i'm happy as a clam w/this thing and we do a ton of bag sealing around here. hope this helps some who are researching...it's hard to find the right machine. The name of the machine is: VacMaster PRO305 Suction Vacuum Sealer (I hope it comes back in stock. however, like stated above, I see that they have newer version called 350, perhaps that replaces the 305 I bought, but I don't know anything about that one.