Finally got to use it and honestly it is great.. it works well it does exactly what you need it to do but the only thing I will say I may have to buy the bigger version of this one only because we buy meat in bulk and with this smaller one it takes a lot more time to seal the bags then it would if you just needed to fill a few smaller things but all in all love this product and will probably continue to use it for smaller items that we need to freeze

I have had a Foodsaver for about a decade, but my old one finally died. Being an inquisitive engineer, I took it apart to see if I could fix it. I looked for quite a while and finally found a piece of broken plastic. It was too small to try to repair, and any kind of repair I tried would involve glue, and it probably wouldn't last because the assembly involved, by design, is subjected to a great deal of shear force. It was a poor design in my engineering opinion, as a part like that should have been metal.

I shopped on Amazon for a new one and found one similar to my old one but it was over $200. The smaller one that I purchased was only about $100 and it performs perfectly. That is it sucks all the air out of the bag and seals it without any leaks. My old unit had a built-in sliding blade to cut a section from rolled bag material. I was very handy to have it right there on the unit. This new small unit does not have such a convenient feature. You have to use a scissors. Another thing I miss is the locking mechanism on the old unit. It had an easy to turn lever that one turns to lock the lid in place to hold the open end of the bag in place. On the new small Foodsaver, there is a latch on each side of the unit. You put the bag in place, lower the top, then push down very hard on one side then the other until you hear a click indicating that this side you're pushing on is latched. Again, the amount of force required to lock each side is very significant. I measured it and it was around 15-16 pounds force.

It may seem like I'm complaining a lot and don't like my purchase. Not so! I miss the slicer and the easy to use locking mechanism of the old, larger unit, but I'm strong enough to operate the latches and I keep a scissors by the unit. More good news is that it's smaller and more attractive than my old Foodsaver. My wife appreciates that, and a white Foodsaver blends in with our kitchen better than the old black one. Individuals with lesser strength might have a problem with the latches, but the good news is that Amazon cheerfully refunds the cost of returned purchases. Save the box and packing materials until you've used it for a while.

The FoodSaver stopped working after 6 months but I was able to submit a warranty claim and received a better model than I had purchased as a replacement within 2 weeks of submitting claim.

My previous one still works, sometimes, but is the deluxe version with cutter and bag roll storage- nice features but tall and awkward to get the bag in and initiate the vacuum process. It started not working well, so I ordered this. I HIGHLY recommend this version. Nice and flat tot eh counter so the bag isn't fighting to pop out, great suction and very secure seal. Doesn't have a cutter built in, so get to mess with scissors or buy pre-made bags, but I like this one much better and with I hadn't spent the money on the Deluxe before. This one also fits right into my cabinet to clear counter space. I recommend this.

My old food saver had a hard time pulling a vacuum so I bought this one. It's not as nice and has cheaper/thinner plastic, but it quickly pulls a vacuum. Good enough for government work"¦