I've had this for over a year now and have used it many times. This is the first spreader I have used, so I can't compare it to others, but I do know that it works well for me. It does a good job, and keeps working without having to fiddle with it all the time. All I do is clean it out, and it is ready to go the next time. One downside is that Scott's doesn't tell you how to translate the settings into lb's / sq ft, so if the product you want to put down doesn't list this spreader and it's settings, you'll have to do some calculations or endless searching. I would recommend this to others, as the price to value ratio seems to be good for a beginner. I don't plan to replace this until it dies, which so far looks like it could be quite a ways down the road.