I have been dehydrating copious amounts of fruit late summer into fall for the last 4 years. I have 4 dehydrators and have kept detailed notes about each. I got so much good info with the Amazon reviews when buying the dehydrators that I thought I might help someone out like I was. However, I do remember going back and forth, back and forth between two dehydrators and decided to buy one of each since I needed two anyway.

Here's what I've learned through A LOT of experience. The Nsco FD-60 is BY FAR the best dehydrator of the 4. It dries the fastest, about 25-30% faster than my second best, the Nesco FD-75PR. (I'm using model numbers because one of the the most confusing things while trying to decide which to buy was the names of each. They overlap from one model to another, so my advice is to go solely by model numbers when comparing one to another.)

The FD-60 is easier to handle because the actual handle on the top lid doesn't flip out like it does on the FD-75PR, makes picking up the lid a bit unwieldly. You've got to balance the lid a bit, whereas the FD-60 has a solid, well designed inverted handle that makes it super easy to lift the lid. I do a lot of lifting, putting the lid down top side down on the counter, and checking, so this is actually a really important feature.

Other than the FD-60 drying faster and the lid being easier to handle, I like them both very much. Even though one dries faster than the other, it doesn't dry out the fruit any more than the other one. Both work equally well drying out the fruit very well if the temp is set properly. I go a tad hotter than the suggested temp for fruit, which they suggest 135 degrees. I go to 140 degrees and watch the fruit like a hawk, so it doesn't dry out.

One thing to add about the slower FD-75PR - I've chosen this one over the FD-60 when I needed to arrange the drying time, so I'd be home or not asleep when the fruit needed tending to. It takes at least 8 hours to dry even the smallest fruit, so timing is essential, so this slower one is actually better, so I don't have to get up at 5 am, or I can load the trays at 10 pm instead of midnight. It usually takes me 8-11 hours on my faster dehydrator, and my slower dehydrator 9-13 hours to complete all the fruit. I use up to 8 trays, but I like to not go over 7. I've dried as many as 9 in one dehydrator, but that was not optimal. There was way, way, WAY too much checking and rechecking required. I've learned that 7 trays total in any of the dehydrators is where the dehydrators' sweet spots lie.

None of my trays have warped, but I only dry fruit, so have never gone over 140 degrees. They clean up well even with dried-on sticky fruit juice and goo when left to soak in a sink of water. I use my dehydrators only about a month a year, but they get intense use in that month, essentially working 24 hours a day for about 4 weeks straight with the only breaks being when I'm washing then reloading the trays with more fruit, which takes about an hour. Of the four dehydrators I have, all make the same amount of noise, so noise level wouldn't play a factor if choosing between these two. My other two dehydrators are heat-from-the-bottom types, and I would not recommend them. Trays have warped when too close to the bottom heat source, so I now always use an empty tray on the bottom. They are the slowest to dry, and they tend to dry out the fruit edges on the lower trays but leave the inner part of the fruit wet, so they're not done, but the edges can fry. In order to have the fruit done properly, there is a lot of high-maintenance work involved. Maybe the higher end dehydrators with the heat source on the bottom work better. The ones I have are older and definitely not as high end, so that could be the problem. Still, logically it makes sense that the heat source from the bottom may make things too hot on the bottom and not hot enough on top. I know that heat rises, but for some reason, it's just too hot on the bottom and not hot enough on top, so I'm constantly shifting trays from one level to another to accommodate these heat-from-the-bottom dehydrators.

I would enthusiastically recommend both the FD-60 and FD-75PR, but if I could only buy one, hands down, I'd buy the FD-60 because it's faster and the handle is better designed for how I use it - frequent checking, so lots of handling and having to invert the lid onto the counter as I check the fruit - super easy to pick back up without the flip-out lid.

So this is my first dehydrator, and first ever batch of fruit- bartlett pears. Came out perfect!
The box came, and my son and I looked around and took the pears on the counter and some other fruit last night, peeled and sliced it and put it in 135 (the temperature range for different foods is printed on the top of the unit) and this morning we had perfect sweet dried pears! We did nothing but put it in and turn it on- no lemon juice or anything else, and they did not oxidize at all. There are blueberries, moon drop grapes and blackberries still in there, plumper so taking longer, but the mostly dried ones taste good so far. Score! Buying more trays now. Thanks to the people who did indepth reviews and helped me choose this one-also the cheapest, and apparently the best. Oh, and the noise level is like having a fan running,,or maybe like the range hood going. It also warms up the room, but its a chilly October here, and it was not unpleasant. There IS a funky sweet/sour smell for the first couple hours as the fruit begins to really lose moisture, but it wasnt gross, just interesting. We lit a cinnamon candle and all was well.

This review may not be fair because we have only used it once, to dry herbs. It took a good bit more time that I thought it would take based on the instruction manual. However, it did the job, which is the main thing, isn't it? To be honest, one reason we chose this dehydrator is that I inherited 4 trays from my father's dehydrator, giving us 8 trays instead of 4 (and low price was important, too). To be honest, I like the older trays better because they seem to fit together better, but the new trays get the job done, and without costing an arm and a leg. I'm not sure it is fair of me to evaluate temperature control, based on our limited experience, but I did notice that on the low temperature setting the bottom trays were not nearly as 'warm' to the touch as the top trays. But as herbs dried, we removed those trays (different herbs on different trays) and once there were only 4 trays I didn't notice a temperature difference between trays. So yes, I could recommend this dehydrator, especially if you are drying on a budget. I estimate our electric costs at about 6 cents per hour (USA).

This dehydrate my apples very well! It does take several hours but the results are yummy.

Hi just had this unit for about a day and a half and in that time I have dried 4 trays of fruit ( grapefruit slices, apples, bananas) and now on the next batch of 4 trays
( bananas, mangos, tomatoes) and will do pineapple next. My fruit has been drying in about 6 hours ( 8 hours for the grapefruit which I sprinkled with a bit of sugar). I also purchased a set of the non stick liners). I hope this unit last for a long time ;-)

Update: I dropped the top of my dehydrator and the thermostat only worked for 145-165f, otherwise it just blew cold air. I contacted Nesco and they told me to check it with a meat thermometer and I did it was reading at only 80f. A replacement top was $32 plus s&h. I was about to purchase another non nesco dehydrator and decided to take the top apart since I had nothing to lose. I unscrewed the handle and the knob that turns to set the temp came right off. I did not see any loose wires and wondered if the knob could have gotten jarred when I dropped it. I tapped the metal thing that holds the knob on with a screw driver since maybe a tap would unjar it. I replaced the knob and wiggled it around then replaced the handle. As soon as I plugged it in it blew warm air at the low settings! I then tested the temp with my meat thermometer and it was about 10-15 degrees hotter than the dial at the low settings. I popped off the temp knob using a butter knife and replaced it. Then it read correctly!!!!!!!!!! All temps were normal again. I'm so happy it's working. I would hate to think "thermostat" problems that cause people to replace their unit or buy a new top might be simply due to a knob not setting correctly.