FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer Machine with Starter Vacuum Seal Bags & Rolls

Amazing and fast and better priced.

Excellent

The quick part of my review then I'll add more about my experience after:1: It is very easy to use. It took me a few attempts at first but that was because I didn't read the instructions first. The most important thing I found is rough side of the bag down.2: It takes up very little space. As per my picture it fits nicely out of the way in the side of the drawer where I keep my plastic wrap, foil, and such.3: Easy to maintain, take the drip tray out and toss it in the dishwasher.4: It works fairly quick. About 10 seconds to seal one end of a bag if you are using the rolls. Then about 15-25 seconds to vacuum and then seal it closed depending on the size of the item being sealed. I've not actually timed it so what I stated is approximate.5: Normally I try to find at least one negative when I review a product to be fair and honest. But with this I have nothing significant to mention. I guess one is it takes a bit of pressure on each side of the sealer to close fully before using but it but nothing really difficult.6: One other tip I have to avoid liquids getting into the sealer and drip tray is to put fish and other meat in the freezer for about an hour and a half before sealing. Then seal it and freeze. Works great for me.This has been a great purchase as someone that lives alone because I can take better advantage of sales on food. When there is a really good sale on fresh fish and other meats I can stock up, vacuum seal them and freeze for later. Sure I could just toss the food in a basic freezer bag but that usually just ends up with ice crystals forming on it and the quality tends to degrade quickly. I've had this sealer since March and food I sealed and put in the freezer when I first got it still maintained significantly more quality than unsealed food.So overall this little vacuum sealer works great. I've had no problems with it and it is already saving me money by taking advantage for sales on fresh fish and meat. It is fairly quick and easy to use as well as small enough to store away without taking up too much space. I'd seen ads for vacuum sealers for a very long time but never really thought I needed one. This sealer changed my mind and I'm glad I bought it. For the price I feel like this item is a very good value.

The best feature of this FS is it compact size. I hesitated buying this for the price, but everything else is way too big for my kitchen. In the description, this FS claims to have 140 watts but is clearly stamped 120 watts on the back of the unit. My previous FS was 110 watts and there is a significant difference in the power and time to vac, even with only 10 watts increase. It does a terrific job vacuuming out the air, however my unit DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY CONVERT TO THE SEAL FUNCTION!!! I even tried to seal a thin block of ice so there would be no hidden air and even that wouldn't seal. My former FS stopped converting to seal a couple years ago so I'm used to that, but for a new unit, that's not good quality control. I find it a little difficult to secure a bag in the unit before vacuuming for a couple reasons. First, the bottom of the unit is totally hard plastic so it slides freely on my countertop while I'm trying to operate the FS. It probably wouldn't be such a problem if it were easier to secure the lid for vacuuming, but there isn't a lever mechanism like my previous FS. Instead you have to apply significant pressure at the two front corners to engage plastic hooks on the lid to the bottom of the case. When the unit slips on the hard plastic bottom before it's secure, it dislodges the bag and you start repositioning again. Once locked down, it makes a good seal (manually) if the bag stays smooth on the heating element, but I have had a couple bags crinkle without knowing it so they were tossed. I would probably give this 3 1/2 stars if I could but rounded up :)

It works every time!

I have bought two of these for different homes in my house. It works well. Sturdy and easy to use.

We wish we had returned this when our problems started because we were still within the return window, but we told ourselves we "could make it work". Here's what happened:Within 3 weeks, it started to not vacuum unless you held down the lid a little tighter (even AFTER getting each side to 'click' closed). Holding the lid down tighter wasn't hard, just inconvenient, so we kept doing that. The next thing it started to do came after the 30 day return window and that was when we plugged it in, the lights would flash extra long and the 'seal' indicator would continue to flash long after the rest stopped. It wouldn't function at all after it did this and my husband had to Google the problem and how to deal with it. Before we knew it, this was the every day experience when we wanted to use it. Super mad by this point that we didn't return it. We had no idea it was about to get worse. Not long after the dancing lights, it began refusing to turn on at all when plugged in. We could plug it in to get no response from the machine, walk away, and after a short wait (20 mins) it would randomly turn on. We dealt with this for months and then it just died. No more dancing lights, no more flashing seal light, no more luck of it randomly turning on after being plugged in and leaving it alone for a bit. Nothing. Now we have to buy a new one after higher hopes from a name brand. Not choosing this brand again.Before you wonder what we might have done wrong or how we might have caused it, here's our side:We always kept the cardboard spacers in the tray between uses with one side clicked and button moved to 'store', the cord was/is still kept nice and neat after every use, we have no kids at home so it was never abused, we never dropped it, nothing ever fell on it. The machine just sucked (actually it had trouble doing that!). Bad.Buy. Another. Brand.