Customer Reviews

Rival VS110 Seal-a-Meal Vacuum Sealer, White

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

With out a doubt, the best value home sealer on the market. The materials and construction in this sealer are awesome. Extremely well designed. I find the instructions a little skimpy, and physically too small to read well. But once you learn how to cut and seal a bag, you never have to go back to the instructions again. Yes you do have to press hard to lock the machine to seal, but that is not a bad thing. The builtin bag cutter and holder is great. Rival gives you an unbeliveable amount of bags and rolls with the machine. Two 8" rolls, two 11" rolls, 22 quart bags and 5 gallon bags. The bag material is excellent. My brother owns the top of the line FoodSaver machine and thinks this Seal a Meal is better at half the price. Your not paying for all that TV advertising that FoodSaver has.

I purchased this item because I wanted to take advantage of freezing foods (bulk meats and fresh garden vegetables) without the hassle and waste of freezer burn. I am amazed at the power of this machine.... it removes every single bubble of air from the package. It does require that you use a little bit of force to get the sealer to snap shut, and it does feel and look as if you could break it in the process. However, that is not the case. Quite a bit of pressure is required. The instruction booklet comes with lots of hints on getting the most from the machine, especially with softer foods and those containing liquids. Overall excellent quality.

While there are a few Rival products that I would NOT recommend, this is one that I really like a lot. I read the other reviews about how hard the sealer is to "close". I didn't have any problems with it and I'm not a particularly strong female. I found that by "holding" the lid down in the center with my L hand, it was easier to "snap" the sides down separately using my R hand. Using both palms at the same time on the "open" buttons pops it open easily after sealing.
I do agree that the instructions are pitifully lacking in specifics. Maybe Rival should use more illustrations?
I buy both chicken and fresh fish in bulk when on sale. I really zipped through the packaging for freezing with the vacuum sealer with 15 lbs of EACH. (2 pieces per pkg) I used the rolls to make bags and will try the pre-sealed bags the next time. Health concerns will keep me from re-using bags used for raw fish and raw chicken.
The vacuum sealing worked great AFTER I learned how to insert the bag under the "bar" correctly.
All in all, I am VERY satisfied with the Rival VS110 Vacuum Sealer. For the price, it's a really good buy. I don't know what the more expensive products could improve on except the instructions.

I talked about wanting one of these so much that a friend broke down and gave me one. It hasn't even been a week and I am already so sold on this process, and this model in particular - primarily for it's low cost. (Don't pay mopre than 60 bucks for this. Even the laziest web shopper can find it for that...)

Some positive surprises: The unit has a nice solid feel to it - I had imagined it would be much flimsier, but this is a sturdy, well-made device.

I appreciate that the VS110 works just as well flat on a countertop or hung up on the wall (using two simple screws and anchors - included). For the optimum seal on different items, you may want to experiment - try it in the alternate positions. For solids bulky foods, lay it flat; for liquids, hang on wall.

According to the instructions, things like soups and sauces should be frozen first and then sealed - this seems to me a bit laborious. If you use the sealer on the wall, the bag hangs down and there really is no need for the extra step. You may want to cut a slightly longer piece of bag to compensate.

I kept reading about the latch mechanism on this unit when checking User Reviews - that it was hard to use and took a "tremendous amount of effort" to close properly. Okay - it's not exactly easy, but come on, folks, you want a sure seal or not? I do find myself wondering if the latch on the higher end models is any easier. Frankly, when I push that door down and it clicks in place, I'm always relieved, as this IS made of hard plastic, and I'm always concerned something will snap.
Other concerns: the Teflon sealing strip looks awfully thin and delicate, I can't imagine it lasting and significvant amount of time. But I've read many reviews, and several spoke of the fact that if the strip does happen to wear out, it can be replaced, and in fact several users said it was replaced for free. Hmm - nice touch.

Also, the Instructions say you can use the VS110 to seal bags of all kinds, although not necessarily vaccum-seal them. In other words, you can place the top of your half-eaten chips bag in the VS110 and seal it closed for later. Nice feature!

Some other users have said they find the sliding bag cutter easy to use, I find that bags tend to curl under the wrong way every time I use it, and you have to be sure that you haven't accidentally cut a slit in the side of the bag that will negate the vacuum process.

Also - last complaint - the vacuum nozzle around which you must hook the left side of the bag very precisely is not the easiest part to work with. It has a cheap, thin, breakable feel to it, and getting the bag to go around it and stay there correctly aligned while you push the VS110 closed is no job for the cavalier. But I think with a few more tries, I'll get the hang of this.

The Rival Seal-A-Meal VS110 may lack some of the features of high-end sealers, but when you come right down to it, it does the job of vacuum-sealing your food quickly, efficiently and with very little effort. It quickly becomes very instinctual, and if you're like me, you'll find yourself looking around for more things to seal.

It's been less than a week, and already I consider the VS110 Seal a Meal an indispensable part of my kitchen. I'm sure it'll pay for itself in no time, and for the money, you just cannot beat it.

I searched high and low to find this sealer because I saw it on a shopping channel (when it was more expensive) and it looked easy enough. I had to wait about 4 months before I could find somebody who had it for a decent price.
I have to say this sealer is excellent. It took some experimenting (I've had it 2 days odered from Macy's online) and I've already sealed almost everything in my fridge!

The nozzle thing is somewhat discerning, it does seem like it could break any minute, and that took getting used to. You have to make sure the vacuum nozzle is encased in the bag and sometimes it comes off when you're trying to close the lid. (I got the hang of it, though. The first time I used it using the vacuum process, I thought the bag was going to implode or something. The sound it makes doing this is quiet odd and loud.

Even though you can't use ziploc bags or anything (at least I don't think you can), buying the refill bags will save you more money than having your bulk food going to waste.

Overall, I would highly recommend it!

I read many reviews before I bought. I knew that you needed to apply pressure to click the sealer shut. It does take pressure but is not too bad. This is a simple machine to use. I love it!

My Seal-A-Meal worked great for several years, but suddenly stopped sealing. Unlike one of the other reviewers, I had an excellent experience with Rival. I sent one email, got a prompt response, mailed my unit back to Rival with $10 for handling and Rival immediately sent me a new unit. Can't ask for better than that!

I've had two Food Saver brand vacuum food sealers in three years. When my second one went out less than a year after I got it, I decided I needed to find a better brand. I purchased a Black and Decker. Couldn't even get it to seal the bags. So it went back. Finally, I found this Rival. I love it! It seals even better than my Food Saver! I really like how it has the automatic seal button. The food saver only offers this feature on its more expensive models. The cheap price is icing on the cake. I would definitely recommend this! Actually, I'm buying this for two family members for Christmas gifts!

Great value, the sealer is everything the ad said and more.
The ad did not specify that the sealer came with so many
bags and rolls to get started off. With the retail cost
of bags deducted, the sealer was almost 1/2 price.
Very well pleased!!!

We recommended this food sealer to many friends and relatives, before it developed a glitch. After a short time, the sealer started turning off before the food saver bags were fully suctioned. It was necessary to unplug it and plug it back in to get it going again. As time went on, the problem became worse and worse. After receiving no replies to our contacts to Rival (2 to the 800 number and 1 via email), we tossed it and replaced it with another, more expensive brand. Rival's customer service is non-existent, so do not take a chance with buying any of their products. If it should break, you are on your own.