I have owned this popcorn machine for a few months now and it has performed good. But if you are like me, you always get a little "smarter" after the purchase. For the price this machine is probably good as it gets, add a little more money and you have better made machines to choose from. It works for me right now but I would not expect it to last very long if it was used heavily in a commercial type setting. After I purchased it, I found a popcorn machine dealer here and looked at some other machines including a Paragon machine that was only a little bit more money than this one. The fit and finish and materials on the Paragon was much better and appeared built to handle heavy usage. This one is 860 watts which is good and only requires about 5 or 6 minutes to heat up. One issue I noticed is the 8oz kettle on this machine is not very deep. I saw another 8oz machine with a kettle nearly 1 inch deeper. I think the shallow kettle helps too many kernels to go flying about unpopped and end up in the old maid tray. I watched a commercial popper do its thing and there were hardly any unpopped kernels left. There are a bunch with this machine even with using the pre-portion packs. I even added weight to the flip up kettle doors and that has helped but once the popcorn gets popping good and the doors fly open, the uncooked kernels come a flyin. One other issue I see is how the power cord is attached to the kettle. This one is attached via a magnet and seems to easily pop loose when you turn the kettle up to shake the remainder out. I think there could be a better means of attaching the cord to the kettle. Again some of the other types I have seen have a heavy duty flexible cord permanently attached. My unit was made in China according to the box it came in and I think it is good for the Home Theater and occasional use. My next machine will probably be a different brand from this one. Again it has performed good in my home theater with occasional use, but I have doubts about taking it to a function and cooking popcorn for 200 people.