I have had a couple of other vacuum sealers and one of them worked pretty well, but I have arthritis in both of my hands so it was hard to shut to seal. The other started leaving a gap in the seal after the first few times I used it. So I needed on that would be reliable and easy to use. Along with the built in bag cutter, it shuts easily and the drip tray comes out for easy cleaning. I can also stop the vacuuming when I want to with it. I used sealers all of the time, so I need easy are reliable, along with easy to clean.