Customer Reviews

Panasonic KP380-BK Classic Electric Pencil Sharpener, Black, One Unit

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I had originally purchased a cheap electric pencil sharpener and was frustrated with its lack of performance. I finally "bit the bullet" and spent the big bucks for one that received excellent reviews. I couldn't believe a simple pencil sharpener could be worth that much money, but I am soooo happy with it that I don't begrudge the cost any longer. It sharpens quickly, perfectly every time. It doesn't stop when sharpening is completed, but you can hear the sound change and know it's done. I highly recommend this product and would definitely purchase it again. I can't believe I got so excited over how well a pencil sharpener works! Few things today seem to have superior performance, so our expectations and standards are lower. Not so with the Panasonic pencil sharpener; it's a great product.

I am no expert but I found this to be the best sharpener I have used. This is my second purchase. I have found the points to be perfect and the auto stop to be very helpful in not over sharpening.

This is the quality pencil sharpener I've been looking for. I've purchased and returned two others but I'm definitely keeping this one. The other sharpeners were noisy, had weak motors, cut slowly and were just plain awkward to use, but the Panasonic KP-380 is a fantastic product.

This sharpener is quiet, powerful and has sharp blades that cut smoothly and quickly. The blades automatically pull away from the pencil when sharpening is complete. The shavings container is of adequate size. There are three small rubber suction cups on the bottom that hold the sharpener firmly in place. Five stars.

This sharpener is wonderful for a busy classroom. I am a teacher and I went through 4 sharpeners before using this one. This was the best one by far. It sharpened the pencils thoroughly and stopped when it was finished to prevent over-sharpening by my students. It never broke and it was used constantly throughout the day. I will only buy this model in the future when and if this one breaks!

This sharpener replaced a KP-410 that suffered sudden death a few weeks ago. [See my review under Panasonic KP-410A.]

The KP-380 sharpens quite round, unlike many other models.

It is powerful enough to occasionally grab the pencil and twist it out of my grasp. I suspect this is when it tucks into some imperfection in the wood near the point. It does tend to chip out such imperfections more than other sharpeners.

On the other hand, it is not difficult to stop the machine by pressing in too hard, which never happened with the KP-410. (Maybe I should not be holding the machine down with the other hand.) This leads me to expect that the KP-380 will wear out soon. Stopping a powered motor is very bad for it. On the other hand, the last 5-10 years of my 40-year Panasonic, which never actually died, were like that. The form factors of that oldie and the KP-380 are similar, and I had better hopes.

Other reviewers have commented that bad sharpeners break the leads. So far, the KP-380 seems better on that than the KP-410 (and my oldie when I replaced it).

The KP-380 motor continues to run when the auto-stop kicks in, which I don't remember from other models. The auto-stop must be mechanical, driven by the point.

So, maybe 3 stars is a little low. But I'd like to be more confident of the machine. I would think that somebody could come out with a sharpener that would last a solid 5 years grinding a few dozen pencils a week to near-perfect round, without anomalies such as grabbing the pencil, chipping the wood, halting in mid-grind, or breaking the leads inside the pencil. Panasonic made one in 1966.

[I did try a decent I-point, but it had a goofy AC adapter that required a specific orientation.]

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Update 9-1-2008: most jams seem to be the result of inserting the pencil quickly. With patience, this model seems fine.
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Update 2-12-2010: still going strong - raising my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

After buying two other sharpeners from Office Max, I finally found one that sharpens the WHOLE pencil. Great product.

This electric pencil sharpener by Panasonic is by far the most reliable and highest quality pencil sharpener I have ever used. It is of professional grade and a value worth more than the specified price. It is very durable and can even take the large amount of wear and tear all things in my house are subject to. It sharpens to a perfect 16 degree point, sharper than any other pencil sharpener I have used and is very quick. It also sharpens every pencil just as sharp even though some use a poor quality of wood or are made very cheaply. Another pencil sharpener I own is the Hunt Manufacturing / Commercial Grade Electric Pencil Sharpener, Black / HUN1799, it is absolute crap and is more expensive. I sharpened a pencil in the Panasonic and then went on to sharpen it in the Hunt Manufacturing / Commercial Grade Electric Pencil Sharpener, Black / HUN1799 and it made it much less sharp. Other reviewers have already mentioned this but I see fit to mention it again, don't waste money on other pencil sharpeners just because they are cheap, go with this one and it will last for a very long time even in a classroom setting. I can't say enough about how great this pencil sharpener is, it is the very best on the market. This review may sound as if it were written from the perspective of the owner of Panasonic or an advertiser, but trust me they wouldn't "waste" this much of their valuable time writing this review, this pencil sharpener is really that good.

I have had this sharpener for about 4 weeks and can rave enough about it. The first task was to sharpen 96 artist grade color pencils. And one after another went through without a hitch. And it puts a wonderful point on the pencil with NO BREAKAGE.

The next task was to sharpen all of my graphite pencils, about 75. And presto they all came out first class with nice long points. I have been working on several large drawings with a lot of shading. This sharpener has been winner. Keeps me working without any breakage or down time.

The cutting head withdraws when the point is done so there is no overcutting, however the motor keeps running until you take your pencil out of the unit.

Very happy with this purchase and it's sure you will be also. Cheers to sharp pencils.

I have absolutely hated pencil sharpeners since I was in the first grade. To be fare, pencil sharpeners have always seemed to hate me too, so I suppose my relationship with them is equitable, at the least.

Anyway, some time ago, the old Boston electric sharpener, which I must admit took a lot of abuse in its long life, finally sharpened its last pencil. I was faced with the odious task of purchasing another. I, like several others here, purchased a new one, spending as little as possible. It lasted a bit over one week and never did work correctly. I am a slow learner, and to make a long sad story short, three sharpeners later (all cheap models), I finally broke down and bought one of these rather expensive (for me) Panasonics. Wow! Talk about a life changing experience! I absolutely love this thing.

I have yet to find the pencil that this little machine cannot handle and sharpen perfectly. I use a tremendous number of pencils, completely for hobbies such as drawing and writing dirty ditties on my desk pad, and have a real hang-up about dull points on my pencils. No fear of that now. Zip and zap, perfect long sharp point each and every time. I love the way this thing turns off when the job is done. It is extremely easy to clean to empty. (When I went to grade school, I talked too much in class, ergo; I spent many after school hours doing chores for teachers during those eight years. Empting pencil sharpeners were high on their list for things for me to do. I always made a mess of it and would then have to clean in up. Perhaps this is part of the source of my aversion to these things.)

This machine is very attractive, or so they tell me; something I could care less about as long as it works. You can hardly see it anyway, as it is usually buried under books and papers. My daughter actually borrowed this thing and used it for three weeks in her first grade class. I thought for sure that was the end of it. I was wrong. When she brought it back, back it worked as well as the day it came out of its box. If you are familiar with the pencil sharpening habits of first graders, you will appreciate this minor miracle. I find myself sharpening pencils that really do not need it all that much, just to run the machine.

I know it is silly to get so excited about a little machine like this, but you have no idea how much I have hated these things over the years and now to finally get one that works the way it is suppose to...well, life just dose not get much better!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

The motor never slows down while sharpening and the auto-stop feature is great to prevent over sharpening the pencil.