I've used virtually every dehydrator on the market and even a few home-made versions. Trust me when I say that this dehydrator is the best you can get for the money.

The round tower-type dehydrators are inexpensive for a good reason: they aren't worth it.
-The trays are flimsy and crack too easily.
-The holes on these trays are too big to use with herbs or diced foods, so you must use the mesh inserts.
-You only have about 1/2" of space between trays, so you cannot dry bulky items--like flowers or granola.
-When it comes to fruit leather, the only thing more inefficient than the round shape is the hole in the middle. Yes, I know they come with fruit leather trays, but have you ever tried to store fruit leather pealed off of the tray and rolled up? A shredded mess to begin with and a sticky mess once they've stored for a while.
-With the motor on the bottom any food or juices that fall through the cracks shortens the life of the machine.
-The drying process in these tower-types is not uniform--the bottom trays dry quicker than the top trays, the center dries quicker than the edges.
-Some models have only recently started adding temp controls. Still, it does little good because there is more heat on the bottom than the top.
-The motor is loud--I had one model I had to run on the porch because it was so loud.
The two round models I bought died within a year and a half of use.

The next best dehydrator on the market is the L'Eqip. It is much quieter, comes with a healthy 10yr warranty and has temperature controls. But it is a hybrid with many of the faults of the round models and few of the benefits of the square-shaped Excalibur. It still has a hole in the middle. It still dries unevenly. It has deeper trays but you still can't dry flowers. It still has a motor on the bottom. I have a friend who dried berries in her L'Equip. They leaked on the motor and it died the first summer of use. Now granted, the folks at L'Equip stood by their machine and replaced it for her with no hassle, but how many times do you want your summer-time dehydrating held up while you wait for your replacement to come?

The Excalibur is perfect for anyone who is serious about dehydrating. Here are the features that I like:
-Heat source and fan are in the back, forcing air to distribute evenly throughout the chamber. Other than the way you place the food, there is no reason for uneven drying spots.
-Love the timer. I can set it and leave. It'll turn off automatically whether or not I'm there. That means 'round the clock drying during the height of your summer harvest. Put the food in when you go to bed, wake up to dried food and put another batch in.
-Temp control lets you choose low heats for herbs and flowers, higher temps for fruits and jerky.
-Love the square trays. For fruit leather I line the trays with plastic wrap and spread the fruit puree out. When it's dry I cut the leather into 2" wide strips, roll them up and secure with the tail end of the plastic wrap. The plastic peels off easily when it's time to eat.
-BIG trays--you can pack a LOT of food into this. This is especially important at the height of the summer harvest when there's a non-stop stream of food that needs drying. (This is also the one single thing that is in my negative column--the trays don't fit flat in my kitchen sink, making them a little hard to wash. I solve this by washing them in my outdoor garden sink--old fashioned tubs on a stand. Since I like the big trays, I really shouldn't complain.)
-Mesh liner on all trays. I can dry herbs, diced onions and finely chopped fruits without having it fall to trays below. No food cross-contamination means I can dehydrate more than one thing at a time.
-Removable trays. If I have bulky items--flowers, herbs, granola, etc--I can just remove every other tray and have another 1/2" or more room.
-Makes a great proofing box for sourdough. Also good for culturing yogurt, esp if you like to make it in larger containers. For both sourdough and yogurt, make sure it is covered so that the moving air doesn't dry it out.
-10 yr warranty. I've had mine for almost 15 yrs and it's still going strong. Every year the money I save on herbs alone pays for what it originally cost me. That means this machine has paid for itself 15 times over.

If you're at all serious about dehydrating, don't waste your money like I did--get the best from the get go. That's the Excalibur.
(Written by Ross' wife. He's also happy that I like it so well and have gotten so much good use from it. I have more information on dehydrating in general and comparin Excalibur with others in particular: [...])

I have changed my review of this product. It is fabulous for dehydrating the treats I've been making for my dogs, which has been my only project so far. And then I tried to clean it---
The bottom of the unit does not have any kind of lip or tray to prevent drippings from oozing under the mesh screen at the back of the drying space, which prevents things from getting into the fan. In my case, it was beef fat.
There is no way to remove the screen easily, and you can't even get the back off the unit. Without pulling the whole thing apart and risking damaging it, there is no way to clean up spills & residue from the back of the unit behind the screen.
If I had been warned that I should line the bottom, or if there was a removable tray, I would not be complaining. Do the creators of these products think this kind of thing through before they manufacture? Very disappointed.

I have done a lot of research on dehydrators! Again and again I kept coming back to the Excalibur! Torn between the 2900 economy and the 3900. The 3900 does have better overall components. I happened upon different purchase options on amazon and looked into the "used" found mine for 160 bucks. It came to me with a slight cracked section upper left. 10 minutes and half a tube of epoxy fixed that right away! I can honestly tell you that these dehydrators are badass! I'm smelling my jerky right now! Can't wait to dry my veggies etc etc. I easily placed 10 pounds of marinated London broil on the 9 trays.i also ordered non stick liners for fruit leather. I am difficult to impress! Even my "used" (broken) Excalibur is keeping me up late! Do yourself a favor, get one. Did I mention made in usa?

So far, best dehydrator ever! I have used a lot of different dehydrators over the last 45 years as I had a boat and fish and hunt. I have made fish and venison jerky for years. This dehydrator is fast and efficient I do not think it is noisy, and it appears to be well made- I'm happy. Good quality, thick and rigid plastic compound. Trays are fine and didn't stick to my meat. I would buy again. Like that made in USA stuff!