These poppers are highly desirable by those who've tried them.  They work GREAT and they are minimal care.  The only difficult thing about them is flipping the fully-popped, fully-loaded unit over to drop the popped corn into the bowl/lid.  It does get a little hot, and isn't light to lift.  We are on our 3rd one because, at some point, one is tired or careless and drops the base from table height onto the floor.  This usually breaks off at least one handle of the base housing.  You can still use it, but it becomes really really difficult to flip, and some folks are afraid of exposed electric heating coils (oil fires?).  DON'T throw away old parts!  All the bases are the same, only the lid size changes, so you can have an extra bowl around, and extra power cords and stirring parts, even if you have to get a new base!  Wish I'd known this before.  When we have friends over, an extra bowl or 2 would have come in handy.