I am Japanese/American, and have eaten steamed rice all my life. Have owned a rice cooker almost all of my adult years. This is my second Zojurishi cooker. Owning a Zojurishi is so way worth it. Why? It just plain cooks the rice as well as it can be made. I few years ago, I relocated to a far away local and eventually purchased a run of the mill rice cooker, and never liked it. Finally purchased another Zojurishi and now think I was silly for the time I did not have it. Full features and cooking options are cool too. The only draw back on my current model is that it does not have a run off for excess condensation, like my other one had. This does not affect the quality of my rice, just a noticeable difference. I shopped and Amazon offered an excellent price with free shipping. No brainer.